The cellphones of murdered Saudi columnist’s fiancee and associate were hacked after his murder
ANKARA, Turkey - NSO Group's Pegasus spyware was used to secretly target the smartphones of the two women closest to murdered Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi, according to digital forensic analysis.
Another of Khashoggi's close associates was successfully hacked after the journalist's murder. Two other associates and two senior Turkish officials involved in his homicide investigation appear on the list.But a Pegasus user sent texts to Elatr, an Egyptian flight attendant Khashoggi fell in love with and eventually married, with links that could have implanted spyware; the user twice masqueraded as her sister.
Whether Khashoggi's cellphone was also hacked is not known. He left his phone with Cengiz when he entered the consulate. She gave it to Turkish authorities. Authorities have kept it and have declined to say whether it had been hacked, citing the ongoing homicide investigation. The second Khashoggi associate whose phone was penetrated with Pegasus, according to the forensics, was Wadah Khanfar, a former Al Jazeera journalist.
"I was warned by someone from the Turkish security authorities that they had detected someone trying to hack into my phones back then," he said. "They didn't say who tried to hack my phone. However, they said that there are many such attempts. They also said that the simplest precaution I should take in this regard would be to change my phone device. So I changed my phone device. But I always saw the possibility of such a leak.
Khashoggi gave Aktay's name to Cengiz and others as his emergency contact. Aktay believes that when he became a vocal critic of the Saudi government after the murder, the monarchy became interested in what they believed he was planning against them.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Israeli spyware used to target phones of journalists and activists, investigation findsThe military-grade spyware used to hack the phones was reportedly licensed by the Israeli spyware firm NSO Group, a media investigation found.
Read more »
Investigation finds journalists, activists around the globe among Israeli firm’s spyware targetsAn investigation by a global media consortium based on leaked targeting data provides further evidence that military-grade malware from Israel-based NSO...
Read more »
Israeli firm's spyware used to target journalists' cell phones - reportsAn Israeli company's spyware was used in attempted and successful hacks of 37 smartphones belonging to journalists, government officials and human rights activists around the world, according to an investigation by 17 media organizations published on Sunday.
Read more »
Pegasus Spyware: Does Apple Have ‘Major’ iMessage Security Problems?Apple has faith in its iMessage security, despite claims that Israeli spyware agency NSO Group's tool has repeatedly cracked iPhone security using iOS's own messaging system. Critics say Apple needs to copy what Facebook and Twitter with message security.
Read more »
Rebekah Vardy's WAG war own goal as she suffers Instagram followers blowEXCLUSIVE: The wife of Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy has has lost nearly 800 followers a month since her spat with Wayne Rooney’s wife Coleen went public
Read more »