Spanish prime minister's mobile phone infected by Pegasus spyware, government says

 Spanish authorities discovered "Pegasus," spyware in the mobile phones used by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, and Defense Minister Margarita Robertles. The government minister for presidency Felix Bolanos said.

Bolanos stated that Sanchez's phone had been infected in May 2021, and that at least one data breach occurred. Bolanos did not reveal who was spying on the premier, nor whether foreign or Spanish organizations were involved.

"The interventions were illegal and external. "External means were carried out by non-official entities and without state authorization," he stated, adding that the infections had already been reported to the justice minister, and the High Court would take care of the case.

After Canada's digital rights group Citizen Lab reported that more than 60 people were linked to the Catalan separatist movements, the leftist coalition government was forced to make an explanation. "Pegasus," spyware created by Israel's NSO Group had targeted them.

After allegations that spying was done on Catalan separatist members, the key ally of the minority government, Catalonia's leftist party pro-independence ERC, stated it would not support the government until Madrid took measures to restore confidence.

Pere Aragones was the separatist Catalan region president and said Monday in a statement that: "When mass surveillance is against Catalan independence movement we only hear silences and excuses. Everything is done today in a hurry.

"But, the double standard is evident here. "It seems that anything against the independence movement is accepted."

Pegasus has been called out by the European Union's data watchdog, in protest at claims it was used to spy on journalists and rights activists by its client governments.

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