Saudi Arabia accused of hacking London-based dissident
Source: The Guardian
Saudi Arabia accused of hacking London-based dissident
Kingdom targeted satirist Ghanem Almasarir with Israeli malware, letter of claim alleges
Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington and Nick Hopkins in London
Tue 28 May 2019 19.00 BST Last modified on Tue 28 May 2019 19.25 BST
Saudi Arabia has been accused of launching a sophisticated hacking attack against a prominent dissident in London who is allegedly living under police protection, according to a letter of claim that has been sent to the kingdom and seen by the Guardian.
The letter of claim, which was delivered to the Saudi embassy in London on Tuesday, was sent on behalf of the Saudi satirist Ghanem Almasarir, and alleges he was targeted by Saudi Arabia with malware developed by the NSO Group, the controversial Israeli surveillance company.
NSOs Pegasus software has allegedly been used by Saudi Arabia and other governments to target journalists, human rights campaigners and political activists.
A report earlier this month found that the spyware had previously taken advantage of a glitch on WhatsApp to try to gain access to a phone used by a British lawyer involved in a civil case against NSO Group.
-snip-
Read more:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/28/saudi-arabia-accused-of-hacking-london-based-dissident-ghanem-almasarir