VIDEO: How NSO Group’s Pegasus Spyware Was Found on Jamal Khashoggi’s Fiancée’s Phone

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July 18, 2021

A consortium of news outlets from around the world, including FRONTLINE, has been investigating the use of the spyware called Pegasus and the Israeli company, NSO Group, that sells it to foreign governments. Pegasus has been used by NSO clients to spy on journalists, human rights activists and others. One target: Jamal Khashoggi’s fiancée.

The investigation is coordinated by the journalism nonprofit Forbidden Stories, with technical support from Amnesty International’s Security Lab. Washington Post reporter Dana Priest is one of more than 80 journalists from 17 media organizations working on the collaboration, known as The Pegasus Project. She traveled to Turkey to verify if Pegasus had been used to surveil Khashoggi’s fiancée, Hatice Cengiz. NSO Group says its spyware is used to fight terrorism and serious crimes, and that its technology was not associated in any way with Khashoggi’s murder. This reporting is part of an upcoming FRONTLINE documentary produced with Forbidden Stories to air on PBS.

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