News Agencies Say Reporters, Activists Targeted by Spyware
2021-07-20
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1News reporters and media groups are upset over reports that governments may have hacked their mobile phones.
2A kind of software known as "spyware" may have been used to control the cameras and microphones of as many as 50,000 people around the world.
3Amnesty International and a French organization for reporters called Forbidden Stories found that over 1,000 of those phone numbers belong to journalists, political activists, government leaders and dissidents.
4Dissidents are people who left their home countries for expressing critical opinions of their governments.
5The spyware comes from a computer security group based in Israel known as NSO Group.
6The software is called Pegasus.
7NSO said it only sells its Pegasus software to lawful government agencies for use against terrorists and criminals.
8It says targets include drug dealers and leaders of criminal groups, or gangs.
9Forbidden Stories sent its report about the hacked phones to 16 news organizations around the world.
10The organizations connected over 1,000 phone numbers with their owners.
11The owners included journalists who work for The Associated Press, Reuters, The Washington Post, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, Le Monde and The Financial Times.
12On Monday, the head of the European Commission called using spyware against reporters "completely unacceptable" if the reports are confirmed.
13Ursula von der Leyen continued, saying: "Freedom of media...is one of the core values of the EU."
14NSO denied the reporting of Forbidden Stories, calling the news "false allegations."
15Amnesty International said its research showed the Pegasus software was on the phone belonging to the woman Jamal Khashoggi was planning to marry.
16Khashoggi was a Washington Post writer killed while inside the diplomatic offices of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul, Turkey in 2018.
17The Washington Post said Pegasus was on 37 of its phones.
18The Guardian, a British newspaper, said it identified 15 of its phones that were hacked.
19Of the 50,000 phone numbers, 15,000 are based in Mexico.
20Past investigations showed NSO spyware has been used in Mexico and the Middle East.
21Another reporter whose phone was hacked was later killed.
22 Cecilio Pineda Birto reported about crime in Mexico.
23He was killed in 2017 after a report about local politicians.
24Lauren Easton is the director of media relations for the Associated Press (AP).
25She said the company is "deeply troubled" to know that two AP reporters, and many other journalists, may have been spied on.
26Expert researchers in computer security discovered in 2016 that many people who worked for news organizations were spied on, with the activity linked to NSO.
27NSO is not the only business that makes spyware.
28But it has gotten a lot of attention.
29Several legal cases targeting NSO's business have been brought in Israel and Cyprus.
30Because of the attention, NSO recently produced a report saying it rejected over $300 million in business because of its human rights "processes."
31A well-known computer security expert, however, criticized NSO's report.
32Eva Galperin is the director of cybersecurity at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
33She said: "If this report was printed, it would not be worth the paper it was printed on."
34I'm Dan Friedell.
1News reporters and media groups are upset over reports that governments may have hacked their mobile phones. 2A kind of software known as "spyware" may have been used to control the cameras and microphones of as many as 50,000 people around the world. 3Amnesty International and a French organization for reporters called Forbidden Stories found that over 1,000 of those phone numbers belong to journalists, political activists, government leaders and dissidents. Dissidents are people who left their home countries for expressing critical opinions of their governments. 4The spyware comes from a computer security group based in Israel known as NSO Group. The software is called Pegasus. 5NSO said it only sells its Pegasus software to lawful government agencies for use against terrorists and criminals. It says targets include drug dealers and leaders of criminal groups, or gangs. 6Forbidden Stories sent its report about the hacked phones to 16 news organizations around the world. The organizations connected over 1,000 phone numbers with their owners. 7The owners included journalists who work for The Associated Press, Reuters, The Washington Post, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, Le Monde and The Financial Times. 8On Monday, the head of the European Commission called using spyware against reporters "completely unacceptable" if the reports are confirmed. 9Ursula von der Leyen continued, saying: "Freedom of media...is one of the core values of the EU." 10NSO denied the reporting of Forbidden Stories, calling the news "false allegations." 11Amnesty International said its research showed the Pegasus software was on the phone belonging to the woman Jamal Khashoggi was planning to marry. Khashoggi was a Washington Post writer killed while inside the diplomatic offices of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul, Turkey in 2018. 12The Washington Post said Pegasus was on 37 of its phones. The Guardian, a British newspaper, said it identified 15 of its phones that were hacked. 13Of the 50,000 phone numbers, 15,000 are based in Mexico. Past investigations showed NSO spyware has been used in Mexico and the Middle East. 14Another reporter whose phone was hacked was later killed. Cecilio Pineda Birto reported about crime in Mexico. He was killed in 2017 after a report about local politicians. 15Lauren Easton is the director of media relations for the Associated Press (AP). She said the company is "deeply troubled" to know that two AP reporters, and many other journalists, may have been spied on. 16Expert researchers in computer security discovered in 2016 that many people who worked for news organizations were spied on, with the activity linked to NSO. 17NSO is not the only business that makes spyware. But it has gotten a lot of attention. Several legal cases targeting NSO's business have been brought in Israel and Cyprus. Because of the attention, NSO recently produced a report saying it rejected over $300 million in business because of its human rights "processes." 18A well-known computer security expert, however, criticized NSO's report. Eva Galperin is the director of cybersecurity at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. She said: "If this report was printed, it would not be worth the paper it was printed on." 19I'm Dan Friedell. 20Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on reports by The Associated Press and Reuters. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. 21What would you think if your country were spying on journalists and critics of its government? Tell us in the Comments Section and visit our Facebook page. 22_____________________________________________________________________ 23Words in This Story 24hack, hacker -n. to secretly get into a computer system to get information or cause damage; a person who hacks computers 25spyware - n. computer software that secretly records information about the way you use a computer 26core - adj. the central part of something 27allegation - n. a statement saying that someone has done something wrong or illegal