Spain reopens probe into use of Israeli NSO Group’s Pegasus tech to spy on politicians

Spain’s High Court reopens an investigation into the use of Israeli cyber-intelligence firm NSO Group’s Pegasus software to spy on Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and other Spanish politicians.

The investigators will share information with France, where politicians and other figures were also targeted. The probe aims to find out who was behind the snooping. No one has yet been accused.

In 2022, the government said software from NSO Group was used to spy on ministers, triggering a political crisis in Spain that led to the resignation of its spy chief.

The government did not elaborate on whether foreign or Spanish groups were suspected of being behind the espionage.

The High Court started to investigate the matter but shelved the case last year after saying Israeli authorities did not cooperate.

But Judge Jose Luis Calama has decided to reopen its probe after France sent him details of its own investigation into the use of Pegasus software to spy on phones belonging to reporters, lawyers and public figures as well as members of the French government and politicians in 2021.

French President Emmanuel Macron changed his cell phone and phone number in light of the Pegasus spyware case.

Calama says that comparing the Spanish findings with technical data France has sent could help move the case forward.