The phones of members of the US State Department were also targeted with Pegasus software.

, Dec 4 () –

The phones of a dozen US State Department employees working in Africa were also targeted with Pegasus software, developed by the Israeli company NSO.

The CNN television network, which cites two sources familiar with the matter, has reported that the State Department is already investigating who has been able to have access to the materials stolen from the phones, iPhone brand, and how they could have been ‘hacked’ . They are also in contact with Apple, which makes the phones in question.

One of the sources has indicated that it is possible that the situation was due to the fact that the employees used the ‘recycled’ mobiles but that the software remained on the devices even though they were cleaned.

The State Department has not yet confirmed that the mobiles were ‘hacked’. “While we cannot confirm this, generally speaking the State Department takes seriously its responsibility to protect your information and continually takes actions to ensure that it is protected,” an agency spokesperson told CNN.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the NSO company has indicated that, once the company learned of the incident, “it has decided to immediately interrupt the access of the relevant clients to the system, due to the seriousness of the accusations.”

“Up to this moment, we have not received any information or phone numbers or any information about which tools developed by NSO will be used in this case,” he added, before assuring that he will cooperate with any relevant government authority and provide him with all the necessary information. information you have.

The Pegasus software, developed by the Israeli company NSO, jumped to the center of controversy when last August an investigation by The Washington Post newspaper revealed a list of 50,000 phones from around the world that could be targeted by the software. Among the users of these phones are journalists, activists and businessmen, among other personalities.

NSO’s Pegasus software is used to gain access to the mobile phones of terrorists, traffickers or pedophiles, but Amnesty International and other human rights organizations claim that it has also been used for other purposes by governments.