Among potential targets found on a list of 50,000 phone numbers leaked to Amnesty and nonprofit Forbidden Stories include Presidents Emmanuel Macron of France, Imran Khan of Pakistan, Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa and Barham Salih of Iraq.
Reaping nearly $100 million in sales over five years, the British government provided spyware, wiretaps and other telecom interception tools to 17 countries, many with a track record of targeting dissent and undemocratic behaviour.
WhatsApp has filed a complaint against NSO Group’s Pegasus software which was used in April and May 2019 to exploit a vulnerability in the communications company’s popular software to spy on dissidents, journalists, lawyers and more.