As per a study, between 2020 – 2021, UK PM Boris Johnson’s office was the victim of suspected Pegasus spyware attacks.
According to a paper presented at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab, potential infections had linked to Boris Johnson’s No-10 office. Pegasus operators had links to the United Arab Emirates.
According to the findings, the UK networks were the target of “multiple suspected instances of Pegasus spyware infections”.
The study group states, that the UK government has been notified. As per reports, the Pegasus spyware’s aim was the UK Prime Minister’s Office at 10 Downing Street and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). It is now the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
“The suspected infection at the UK Prime Minister’s Office was associated with a Pegasus operator we link to the UAE,” it said.
Google detailed how Israel’s Pegasus malware got into iPhones last year. Even if a user hasn’t clicked on a phishing link, NSO’s Pegasus software can apparently target their phone. Google called it “zero-click exploitation technology” meaning “no-user interaction” detected during the hacking.
When a user clicks on a link, NSO is able to build a “one-click exploit,” insuring a malware attack.
The Citizen Lab claimed the infections could have been “related to FCO devices located abroad and using foreign SIM cards, similar to the hacking of foreign phone numbers used by US State Department employees in Uganda in 2021” because the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and its successor office FCDO have personnel in several countries.
The group also demanded that the British government take “appropriate action” to “mitigate” the threat.
