Dozens of journalists and activists in El Salvador have had their phones hacked with the spyware Pegasus, which has been used by governments to monitor critics and dissidents. Researchers said most of those targeted work at the El Faro news outlet, which has reported on alleged secret talks between the government and gangs.
They could not prove who was behind the hack, but said evidence pointed to government involvement. The government has denied this. Pegasus,
which was designed by the Israeli company NSO Group, infects iPhones
and Android devices, allowing operators to extract messages, photos and
emails, record calls and secretly activate microphones and cameras. The spyware can be surreptitiously installed via SMS text, WhatsApp, iMessage or remotely via Bluetooth.
The investigation into the El Salvador hack was carried out by the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab and digital rights group Access Now. They said they had found evidence of incursions on 37 devices belonging to 35 individuals between July 2020 and November 2021. Those who were allegedly hacked work at three human rights groups and six news publications, and one is an independent journalist. Amnesty International's Security Lab independently confirmed the findings.
The main target was El Faro, the country's leading independent news outlet, which had 22 people hacked including reporters and editors. That amounts to more than half of its staff. The report said it had evidence that data had been stolen from many of the devices affected.
The hacks coincided with reports the outlet published about scandals involving President Nayib Bukele's administration, including allegations that the government secretly negotiated with gang leaders in prison in order to reduce the levels of crime. The revelations also come amid an increasingly hostile environment for media and rights groups under Bukele, a populist who enjoys high approval ratings and often rails against his critics in the press.
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