At least two journalists and a prominent human rights defender in Mexico have exposed their cell phone data by the notorious Pegasus spyware, even after the country’s government confirmed it did not use spyware. That’s the report by digital security research group Citizen Lab in partnership with R3D.
Citizen Lab claims that their mobile phones were infected with Pegasus between 2019 and 2021, after the new López Obrador government took over. It is noteworthy that the first reports of Pegasus use in Mexico were in 2017, before the current government. Obrador claims to have been a victim of espionage and stressed that even on principle he would never do the same (48th minute of the video below). But espionage happens again during his tenure.
However, there is no evidence that the government was directly involved in the new case of Pegasus infection. Citizen Lab raises suspicion against authorities as the hacked journalists specialize in covering corruption scandals by Mexican politicians, so they will be the ones most interested in spying on their cell phones. The security group also raises the possibility of drug cartels being involved in espionage, but this is all conjecture and speculation.
Source: Tec Mundo
