Jordan accused of using NSO’s Pegasus to spy on activists

Digital-rights researchers have concluded that the mobile phones of four Jordanian human rights activists were hacked over a two-year period with software made by the Israeli spyware company NSO Group.

The findings by Front Line Defenders and Citizen Lab say at least some of the hackings appear to have been carried out by the Jordanian government. It was the latest in a series of reports linking NSO’s Pegasus spyware software to abuses by authoritarian governments.

Jordan denies the allegations. NSO has no comment on the findings, but says the monitoring of political activists by any client would amount to a “severe misuse” of its product. Both the company and the Israeli government have faced repeated criticism over their oversight practices.

The report identifies the activists as Ahmed al-Neimat, an anti-corruption activist who it said has been banned by Jordan from working or leaving the country; human rights lawyer Malik Abu Orabi; and Suhair Jaradat, a female journalist and human rights activist. It said another female human rights activist and journalist was targeted, but asked to remain anonymous due to security concerns.

It says at least two of the targets appeared to have been hacked by operators “primarily focused on Jordan.” It says it identified two operators that were “likely agencies of the Jordanian government.”

Earlier this year, Frontline Defenders said another female Jordan activist, Hala Ahed Deeb, had also been hacked by NSO software.