Boris Johnson: Prime Minister’s phone was reportedly target of hacking software
The prime minister’s phone was reportedly the target of hacking software according to cybercrime experts who analysed his phone.
Boris Johnson’s mobile was said to have been subject to the Pegasus software, created by the Israeli-based NSO group, on multiple occasions during between 2020 and 2021.
According to The Times, a government sourced confirmed it was used to infiltrate phones within Number 10 and the foreign office, but that it had not been “serious or widespread.”
The NSO Group was banned by the US in 2021 because its software had been sold to regimes which “maliciously target” people such as human rights activists.
The hack was warned about by Canada-based Citizens Lab, with the New Yorker reporting that the National Cyber Security Agency had carried out a sweep of mobile decides.
The attack on Boris Johnson’s phone was orchestrated by a group linked to the UAE according to the Times.
A Government spokesperson said:
“We do not routinely comment on security matters.”
The Israeli embassy declined to comment.