Whistleblower Details Morocco's Widespread Use of Pegasus Spyware

Former intelligence insider says hacking tools targeted journalists, activists and foreign officials since 2017

A former member of Morocco's domestic intelligence service has given an unprecedented account of how the north African state deployed hacking software, including the notorious Pegasus spyware, against journalists, human rights defenders, French politicians and Spanish government ministers and police officers, the Guardian reported.

The whistleblower's account offers rare insider confirmation of surveillance practices that rights groups have long suspected but struggled to prove, suggesting Moroccan security services began using the tools as far back as 2017 against both domestic and foreign targets. Pegasus, manufactured by Israel-based NSO Group, can give an operator access to everything on a target's phone, including emails, texts and photographs, and can even activate the device's microphone and camera to turn it into a listening tool.

The disclosures are likely to renew diplomatic friction with France and Spain, both of which have previously raised concerns about Moroccan surveillance reaching into their own governments. Spanish and French officials have in the past accused Rabat of using spyware against sitting cabinet ministers and police officials, allegations Morocco has denied.

The revelations add to a growing body of evidence about the global spread of commercial spyware and its use by governments against critics, journalists and rival states, reigniting questions about oversight of an industry that operates largely outside public accountability.

— Compiled from reporting by the Guardian.