Its use against Hungarian journalists and press bosses has been demonstrated by the investigation of the World and its sixteen media partners. Lajos Kosa, deputy of the Fidesz party, in power in Hungary, admitted Thursday, November 4, that the Israeli spyware Pegasus had indeed been bought by the Hungarian interior ministry.
Hungary was the only European Union country on the list published in July by a consortium of investigative journalists as a potential user of this spy software, with hundreds of targets, including journalists, lawyers and others. ‘other public figures.
Smartphones infected with Pegasus turn into spy devices, allowing the user to read their target’s messages, look at their photos, track their location and even turn on their camera without their knowledge. The government of Nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban had so far refused to confirm that he had used Pegasus.
But Lajos Kosa responded ” Yes “ to a question from a Hungarian journalist who asked him if the Interior Ministry had bought this controversial software. “I do not see anything reprehensible”, said Mr Kosa, who chairs a parliamentary committee on defense, during a hearing of the committee.
Employee “within a legal framework”
“Most often, the big technological firms set up much tighter surveillance than what the Hungarian state does”, he added. He added that the Interior Ministry, using this software, had not violated the rights of any Hungarian citizen.
For his part, the Minister of the Interior, Sandor Pinter, assured the parliamentary committee that the security services had employed him within a legal framework, with the permission of a judge or the Minister of Justice.
Opposition commissioner Agnes Vadai told reporters that Mr Pinter refused to confirm or deny that journalists or politicians had been monitored with the spyware.
The United States has just placed NSO Group, which developed Pegasus, on its national security blacklist.