The research avoids naming any government that may have used Pegasus against Kologlou, especially given that it found no indication of Greek government involvement. But Citizen Lab says it found overlap between the attacks on Kologlu’s phone and the use of Pegasus against seven Russian and Belarusian-speaking journalists and activists between August 2020 and January 2023.
Hannah Newman, a Green MEP who serves on the spyware committee, told WIRED, “Not only did they target an MEP, but they also spied on an investigation into spyware abuse. This shows the complete absurdity of the situation.”
A spokesperson for the European Parliament did not comment directly on the findings when asked about them by WIRED, but said it has a “spyware screening system” available to all MEPs and has recently adopted measures to expand its security.
According to Citizen Lab’s findings, Kuloglu’s phone was first infected while he was in the hospital on October 21, 2022. While recovering from elective surgery, he is visited by Greek investigative journalist Thanasis Koukakis, who had previously been hacked with Predator spyware. The following week, the PEGA Committee held a series of hearings on the impact of spyware and how it can interfere with human rights. Committee members, including Kouloglu, visited Cyprus and Greece as part of its investigation.
According to the findings, Kouloglu’s phone was again infected with Pegasus spyware on March 6 and 7, 2023. Newman, who was also part of the investigation, says that at the time of the first compromise of Culoglou’s phone, the committee was heading into a “major hearing”, including questioning of companies operating within the spyware industry.
At the time of the 2023 event, the group was finalizing its findings and negotiating, Newman says. Newman says, “Looking at the dates, it’s quite clear that someone was not just randomly spying on them, but was actually targeting the committee’s work.”
“I got angry because you realized that your private life, which includes not only politicians, messages with friends, but also your private life with relatives, children, wives, etc., is being monitored by someone,” says Kuloglu. “This is not just a matter of privacy, it is also a matter of justice, democracy and the fight against corruption.”
As part of its forensic analysis, Citizen Lab found that Kouloglu’s phone received three notifications from Apple in March and August 2023 and April 2024, alerting him that he might be targeted with spyware. These notifications are not released in real time and Culoglou says he has no recollection of seeing them.
Kouloglu and other MEPs told WIRED they are concerned that other members of the committee could also be targeted and that the group’s recommendations — which include the creation of an EU-based technical laboratory focused on forensic device analysis and a spyware taskforce for elections — have not been adopted years after the committee completed its report.
“There’s a mountain of spyware abuse in Europe, and nothing has been done – it’s an embarrassment to European institutions,” says Citizen Lab’s Scott-Railton. “This leaves Europeans vulnerable, even as AI promises to reduce the threat of mercenary spyware by lowering costs and barriers to entry.”
He also noted that some countries, including the United States, have made progress in combating spyware use through sanctions, visa restrictions, executive orders, and other deterrents.
“There is no lack of awareness of the problems that come with mercenary spyware,” says Newman. “The Pegasus committee wrote an entire report on this. There’s no shortage of recommendations on how to fix this. It’s just a matter of, can you do it now?”
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