The spyware Pegasus has been used for the first time in a military conflict, according to security researchers. The iPhone-specializing spyware targeted journalists, human rights activists, and civil society members in Armenia during the conflict with Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
A United Nations employee was among those hacked, according to the British Guardian. The spying is believed to have taken place between October 2020 and December 2022. Researchers from organizations such as Access Now, CyberHUB-AM, and the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto discovered the activities.
NSO, the Israeli company behind the spyware, is banned by Apple and in the USA, with Apple warning some of the victims about suspicious activity. The tech giant offers a lockdown mode for people at particular risk, which seals off the smartphone from the outside. The NSO Group declined to comment on the process, according to the Guardian.
Security researchers suspect that Azerbaijan could be behind the attacks as the country is one of NSO Group’s customers. On the other hand, Armenia relies on another spyware called Predator by Cytrox. A former spokeswoman for the Armenian Foreign Ministry, whose device had been hacked at least 27 times, was among those affected. She was involved in negotiations for a ceasefire at the time.
