BANGKOK: A minimum of 30 political active supporters and workers in Thailand were hacked using Israeli surveillance spyware Pegasus, according to a mutual investigation by individual rights and cyber monitoring groups, which usually suspect the assaults were launched regionally.
The probe by Thailänder human rights group iLaw, Southeast Asian internet watchdog Electronic Reach and Toronto-based Citizen Lab, followed a mass notify from Apple Inc in November informing thousands of iPhone customers, including in Thailand, that they were focuses on of “state-sponsored attackers”.
Pegasus continues to be used by governments in order to spy on journalists, activists, and dissidents and the Israeli firm behind it, NSO Group, has been sued by Apple and placed on an ALL OF US trade blacklist.
iLaw in its document on Monday (Jul 18) said 24 political activists, 3 academics and 3 members of civil society groups had been targeted between Oct 2020 and November 2021, ranging from one to 14 hacking situations each.
Yingcheep Atchanont, programme supervisor at iLaw, has been among those hacked plus said his team would investigate further, and pursue lawful action once it becomes clear who in Thailand was working Pegasus.
“NSO has said that they only sell the software in order to governments and that all the victims here are Thailänder government critics, so that they benefited the most, inch he said.
NSO Group and a spokesperson for Thailand’s government did not instantly respond to requests regarding comment.
Wetang Phuangsup, a spokesperson for Thailand’s ministry of Digital Economic climate and Society, said his ministry had not been aware of any use of spyware by the federal government.
Citizen Lab’s report, which was individual to that of iLaw, examined digital remnants left in the victims’ phones and recognized Pegasus usage in Thailand as far back as May 2014.
Steve Scott-Railton, a Resident Lab researcher, mentioned the investigation demonstrated Pegasus was being managed in Thailand, with many more hacking sufferers likely.
“What we uncovered will be a lot of targeting associated with dozens of people more than a specific time frame, but having done analysis into Pegasus… on the decade, I am self-confident that it is the tip of the iceberg, ” he said in an online presentation on Mon.