Spies for centuries have taught those in power and their nations, including presidents, prime ministers, and kings, to be careful.
And in the 21st century, most of them carry mobile phones.
That is the basic logic of the most widely used international spy innovation that in recent months examined a list of more than 50,000 phone numbers included - according to an analytical analysis of most iPhone-type phones.
The list included hundreds of politicians and government officials.
But what about the heads of state and government, of course, the goals were even bigger?
Three presidents, 10 prime ministers, and one king
On the list: The three Presidents present are Emmanuel Macron of France, Barham Salih of Iraq, and Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa. The three current prime ministers, Imran Khan of Pakistan, Mostafa Madbouly of Egypt, and Saad-Eddine El Othmani of Morocco.
Seven outgoing prime ministers, who were appointed while still in office:
Ahmed Obeid bin Daghr of Yemen, Saad Hariri of Lebanon, Ruhakana Rugunda of Lebanon, Édouard Philippe of France, Bakitzhan Sagintayev of Kazakhstan, Noureddine Bedoui of Algeria and Belgium. Charles Michel.
And one king: Mohammed VI of Morocco.
Affiliate information organizations in 10 countries verified ownership of these and other numbers mentioned in this transcript through public records, press correspondence, and inquiries by government officials or other close associates of possible targets - though at times it was it is impossible to determine whether the phone numbers were active or old.
Almost all phone numbers on Monday and Tuesday provided canceled calls or changed numbers. A few people received a call, Others responded with a text message.
The French journal Journal, Forbidden Stories, and the human rights group Amnesty International obtained more than 50,000 lists. The purpose of the list is unknown, and the NSO denies that it was a list of monitoring targets.
"The data has many legitimate and completely accurate uses that have nothing to do with surveillance or with the NSO," Virginia's attorney representing the company, Tom Clare, wrote in Prohibited Stories.
But for Amnesty's security investigation, 67 numbers related to the numbers on the list were found to be 37 that could be intercepted by Pegasus or showed signs of attempted hacking.
Amnesty's investigation also found that many phones showed signs of infection or attempted stabbing for minutes or even seconds after temporary stamps appeared on their numbers on the list.
The NSO - one of the leading actors in the market - says it has 60 government agency clients in 40 countries.
In each case, the company says, the target should be terrorists and criminals, such as fraudsters, drug dealers, and human traffickers.
The company says it is specifically targeting law-abiding citizens, as well as government officials who carry out their normal business activities. NSO chief executive Shalev Hulio said his company has policies to protect itself against abuse; The trust we give customers, ”Hulio said. "I believe we need to look at every claim. And if we examine every claim, we can find that some are true. And if we find out that they are true, we will take drastic action."
Although common investigations by national leaders may be general, public disclosure about it often leads to conflict. When former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden revealed in 2013 that the United States had hit the telephone used by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, it caused months of unrest in the country and weakened close ties between the two nations.
Responding to in-depth questions from the intelligence agency, the NSO said it monitors how its software is used and seeks access to the system for any client who misuses it. But it also says its customers, not the company itself, are responsible for its use.
"The NSO will continue to investigate all allegations of misuse and take appropriate action based on the results of this investigation," the statement said. "This includes shutting down the customer system, something that the NSO has proven its ability and willingness to do, because of misuse control, to do it several times in the past, and will not hesitate to do it again if there is a need."
In a separate letter Tuesday, it also stated "we can confirm that at least three names in your inquiry; Emmanuel Macron, King Mohammed VI, and [World Health Organization] Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus - have never had targets or been selected as Group targets of the NSO. "" All French and Belgian government officials or diplomats listed, do not and have never been, Pegasus targets, "the company added in the next letter. Pegasus, "NSO lawyer Thomas Clare wrote to a Pegasus Project partner on Tuesday.
"It is a list of numbers that anyone can search on the open-source system for reasons other than Pegasus. The fact that the number appears on the list does not indicate whether the number was selected for the survey using Pegasus."
A person familiar with NSO operations who spoke earlier on condition of anonymity to discuss the interior told The Post that among the customers the company suspended operations in recent years were agents in Mexico.
The man denied in detail what organizations had been suspended.
But reports of Pegasus abuse have spread in Mexico, with more than 15,000 Mexican phone numbers on the list, including that of former president Felipe Calderón. Investigations found that he had been added to the list after his term expired in 2012.
Burundi's prime minister, Alain-Guillaume Bunyoni, was added to the list in 2018, before taking office, records show.
Such were the numbers of the future president of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, and his future prime minister, Askar Mamin.
Key figures in major international organizations were not released from the list. The list included several UN ambassadors and other diplomats. It also had the phone number of a former WHO Tedros employee.
In total, the list contained the telephone numbers of more than 600 government officials and politicians from 34 countries. In addition to the countries where the phone numbers of top officials appeared were the official numbers of Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bhutan, China Congo, Egypt, Hungary, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Mali, Mexico, Nepal, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Togo, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the United States.
Geographical notes
A review of the list showed that some of the leaders' phones were hacked more than once, such as the phone numbers of their friends, relatives, and aides.
The telephone numbers of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's allies were added to the list in the run-up to the 2018 elections, which he eventually won, leaving the ruling party.
Among those on the list were his wife's cell phones, his sons, his assistants, many of his political associates, and even his personal driver and cardiologist.
There was no indication that López Obrador's phone was on the list; Aides say he used it a little.
The numbers of Michel, Macron, and several French officials appeared in the middle of a group of more than 10,000 controlled by Moroccan targets and those of neighboring Algeria, a Moroccan rival.
The numbers of Mohammed VI and Tedros employees were also found in the group. Such was the case with Romano Prodi, the former Italian prime minister.
"We knew the threats and steps were being taken to reduce the risk," Michel told Belgian correspondent Le Soir, a partner in the Pegasus Project. Michel resigned as Belgium's prime minister in 2019 and became president of the Council of Europe, one of the highest-ranking officials in the European Union.
Rwanda, Morocco, and India have all issued official statements denying involvement in the investigation of journalists and politicians. Based on NSO marketing materials and security researchers, Pegasus is designed to collect files, photos, phone logs, location records, communications, and data some personal from mobile phones, and can activate cameras and microphones as well as real-time monitoring when necessary.
Often these attacks can occur without the intention of getting any kind of attention or taking any action. Pegasus can only intervene - on iPhones and Android devices - and take smartphones for what the surveillance industry calls "click-zero" attacks.
Rwanda's foreign minister, Vincent Biruta, said his country "does not have this technical capacity in any way." In a statement, Morocco described the "biggest surprise" by publishing "false allegations" that Morocco had intercepted calls from several national and foreign actors and officials of international organizations. "The statement added, "Morocco is a law-abiding nation, which ensures the confidentiality of personal communications by the power of the Constitution."
In India, the interior minister commented that it had spit on journalists and politicians the work of "disruptors," which he described as "world organizations that do not want India to continue." special people have no basis or fact related to it. "Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, and the United Arab Emirates did not respond to requests for comment.
'Injustice'
Macron's phone number was added to the list when he was about to embark on a tour of Africa, with stations in Kenya and Ethiopia. Added around the same time there were calls from 14 French ministers and Michel from Belgium.
"If the truth is true, it is clearly very bad," Elysée said in a statement. "All the light will be shed on this press revelation."
At the time, Algeria was in turmoil, and its longtime dictator, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, had just announced that he had no plans to run again.
Algeria fought a bloody war of independence from France in the 1950s, and most French citizens are of Algerian descent; The two countries have close ties to intelligence.
The African Union was also ratifying a major free trade agreement at the time.
Trade and other international negotiations have historically been the main targets of government intelligence collection as all parties seek insight into the views of their negotiators. Senior French government officials usually have access to secure communications, but political intruders France says other businesses also deal with iPhones and unsafe Android devices.
In addition to its personal iPhone, Macron uses two special secure phones for more sensitive conversations, aides say.
One of his phone numbers was published in the media in 2017 after someone stole the phone of a journalist who had contacts with Macron.
So he uses more secure and secure phone numbers, officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential matters.
