Cabinet did not say whether Dutch institutions use Pegasus spyware – IT Pro – News

The outgoing government does not want to make any statements about whether Dutch institutions are using the Pegasus spyware. This was reported by Interior Ministers Ollengren and Kaj from Foreign Affairs in response to parliamentary questions.

At the request of the service provider As to whether the Pegasus software is being used by Dutch authorities, the ministers replied: “In general, Dutch enterprises are not allowed to hack automated businesses.” Uses special powers. Ministers will not make any further statements about this publication, so it remains unknown whether or not the Pegasus spyware is being used.

According to the Cabinet, nothing else was known about any of the Dutch Pegasus victims. For example, it will not contain a list of the phone numbers of politicians, journalists and lawyers, making it impossible to compare these numbers with Previously Leaked List with phone numbers of potential Pegasus targets.

The government considers the use of Pegasus spyware to eavesdrop on lawyers, politicians, human rights defenders and journalists “as reported in the media” as “unacceptable”. This is behind previous position from the European Commission.

According to the government, these electronic surveillance goods should be placed under international export control “in connection with human rights violations.” The government stated that the EU introduced revised control of such programs on 9 September through the EU Dual Use Regulation. According to the national government They are dual-use goods products that can be used for “both civil and military purposes”. As a result of the new export rules, electronic control technology is now explicitly covered, which means that export controls must now also be implemented systematically on these goods.

Pegasus is a spyware that can take over someone’s entire phone remotely via a vulnerability in the iMessage app, Researchers discover Van The Citizen Lab. Among them are nine activists From Bahrain, a victim of malware. Also, the phone number The French president is among the 50,000 numbers of potential malware targets.