Tech

Massive data leak includes the phone numbers of 13 world leaders

Published

2 years ago

July 21, 2021

New information reveals that the “Pegasus Database” leak includes the phone number of several world leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron

The recent “Pegasus Database” leak included the personal mobile phone numbers of 13 world leaders. The data leak also included the details of diplomats, military chiefs and senior politicians from 34 countries.

Affected leaders include the French President, South African President and Pakistani Prime Minister.

https://twitter.com/PoliticsForAlI/status/1417595265314263041?s=20

The Israeli spyware company NSO group sells the Pegasus hacking software behind the attack.

The group originally created the software to monitor criminals and terrorist groups around the world.

NSO says that the fact these mobile numbers were included in the database doesn’t indicate the occurrence of hacking. It does however, reveal that government clients of NSO identified these targets as people of interest.

NSO insists Pegasus software is only for investigations into crime and terror

Which world leaders are affected?

An investigation by The Guardian put together the following list of targeted world leaders:

Rwanda targeted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2019
Morocco targeted French President Emmanuel Macron in 2019
Morocco targeted World Health Organisation’s Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in 2019
United Arab Emirates targeted prime minister of Lebanon Saad Hariri in 2018 and 2019
Morocco targeted the prime minister of Belgium and president of the European council, Charles Michel, in 2019
Security forces in Morocco targeted their own King Mohammed VI of Morocco in 2019
Security forces in Morocco also targeted their own prime minister Saadeddine Othmani in 2018 and 2019
India targeted prime minister of Pakistan Imran Khan in 2019
An unknown Mexican client targeted former president of Mexico Felipe Calderón in 2016 and 2017 when his wife was running for the top job
Morocco targeted American diplomat Robert Malley in 2019. Malley was a chief negotiator on the US-Iran deal

Major global phone hack discovered targeting journalists and politicians

Related Topics:database leak Featured hack Pegasus

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William Howard

William is an Executive News Producer at TICKER NEWS, responsible for the production and direction of news bulletins. William is also the presenter of the hourly Weather + Climate segment. With qualifications in Journalism and Law (LLB), William previously worked at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) before moving to TICKER NEWS. He was also an intern at the Seven Network's 'Sunrise'. A creative-minded individual, William has a passion for broadcast journalism and reporting on global politics and international affairs.

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