Two former Polish intelligence chiefs have been charged over their use of Israeli Pegasus spyware, which prosecutors allege may have compromised classified information.
The pair, who led Poland’s ABW internal security agency and SKW military counterintelligence service, each face up to three years in prison for failing in their official duties.
According to the National Prosecutors Office, the Pegasus system “did not have the required IT security accreditation.”
Former ABW head Piotr P and ex-SKW head Maciej M allegedly used the spyware “despite being aware of the risk of compromising” the agency’s activities, including “secret” or “top secret” information, the office writes in a press release.
The prosecutors withheld their last names under Polish privacy laws, but former SKW chief Maciej Materka later named himself in a social media post condemning the action.
Piotr P ran the ABW from 2015 to 2016, while Materka ran the SKW from 2018 to 2022. Both served in the government of the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party. The current government alleges that the Pegasus spyware was also used to monitor them before they came to power in 2023.
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