Al Jazeera journalists reportedly hacked with Israeli-made spyware
Thirty-six Al Jazeera staff members were targeted in an attack that some have blamed on Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Dozens of journalists working for Al Jazeera were hacked with spyware sold by an Israeli technology firm, in what a watchdog group says is possibly the work of hackers in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Citizen Lab, a watchdog organization at the University of Toronto, says the phones of 36 Al Jazeera journalists, anchors, producers and executives, as well as a London-based journalist for Al Araby TV, were targeted. Researchers traced the hacks to mobile phone spyware known as Pegasus, which is developed and sold by Israeli-based NSO Group.
The hackers reportedly deployed a so-called “zero-click” attack, likely using the iPhone's iMessage function, the Citizen Lab report says. These interaction-less exploits don’t require victims to click on a suspicious link in order for NSO’s clients to break into their phones.
“The shift toward zero-click attacks by an industry and customers already steeped in secrecy increases the likelihood of abuse going undetected,” said the report, referencing a 2019 WhatsApp attack that targeted at least 1,400 phones through a missed voice call.
