Marruecos se desvincula de las acusaciones vertidas sobre el Reino respecto al Proyecto Pegasus
Morocco denies having been part of "Project Pegasus", the spyware produced by the Israeli NSO Group that was allegedly used to hack into mobile phones belonging to journalists, human rights activists and business executives, according to an investigation involving more than 80 journalists from 17 organisations under the coordination of Forbidden Stories, a non-profit journalists' organisation whose aim is to reveal "the work of other journalists facing threats, imprisonment or murder".
In this regard, the Arab country has decided to take legal action against what it calls "false accusations" that it is attacking the phones of public figures such as the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, or the King of Morocco, Mohamed VI, along with some of their relatives by a Moroccan user of NSO. Rabat thus denies having bought or used the software after Amnesty International and 17 international media organisations accused the Alawi kingdom of using the software to attack thousands of mobile phones.
The MAP news agency reported that they have opened "a judicial investigation into the false allegations, contained in reports issued by foreign newspapers, which attribute accusations to the Moroccan authorities, and will involve national constitutional institutions". Furthermore, the statement added that they have ordered "the disclosure of the circumstances, background and scenarios of the publication of these accusations and allegations, in order to determine responsibilities and arrange what is required by law in the light of the results".
Alongside this, the Moroccan government had "strongly condemned the continuous, misleading, intense and suspicious media campaign, which promotes accusations of phone hacking of several national and foreign personalities using an information programme". Meanwhile, from France, French government spokesman Gabriel Attal announced that Macron has convened an exceptional Defence Council on the occasion of the alleged "Pegasus" spying after it was revealed that the French president's phones are among the potential targets of the programme.
The spokesman said the meeting would focus on cybersecurity, telling French radio France Inter that "the president is following this issue very closely and is taking it very seriously". The consortium of the 17 media outlets that are part of the investigation warn that Macron's number appears among the possible political figures who could be hacked along with several cabinet ministers. In this context, they accuse Morocco of having allegedly tried to hack the phone of former environment minister François de Rugy.
According to Amnesty International's Secretary General Agnés Callamard, "Project Pegasus exposes NSO's spyware as the weapon of choice for repressive governments seeking to silence journalists, target activists and crush dissent, putting countless lives at risk".
The software is being accused of using its systems to provide public information about political and business figures, as revealed by the investigation itself through websites such as Amnesty International.
As for the execution of the software in the infection of mobile phones, cybersecurity experts say that "the governments that have been confirmed as part of the plot are because the malware was detected on their phone and they had a digital forensic analysis done. Through that analysis a report was produced with data on how the malware works and they provided other documents useful for attribution to NSO".
However, Rabat denies having bought or used the software following allegations that the country has used the software to attack thousands of mobile phones. In this regard, "Pegasus" is said to have the ability to hack into mobile phones without the user being aware of it, allowing all messages to be read, user locations to be tracked and the mobile phone's camera and microphone to be accessed.
