EU officials targeted with Israeli hacking tools

Spyware developed by an Israeli security company was used to target several high-ranking EU officials last year.

According to the Reuters report on the subject, Didier Reynders, a prominent Belgian lawmaker who has served as the European Justice Commissioner since 2019, was one of four European Commission officials whose phones were targeted between February and September 2021.

The Commission became aware of the attacks when Apple sent an alert to thousands of iPhone users in November informing them that they were being 'targeted by state-sponsored attackers,' two EU officials told Reuters.

According to the officials, the warnings sparked instant concern.

In the same month, a senior IT staffer wrote an email to colleagues, warning them about Israeli hacking tools and asking them to be on the watch for fresh alerts from Apple.

Many questions remain unanswered. Why were these individuals were targeted, and by whom? Were the attackers successful in gaining access to the victims' iPhones, and what information would they have obtained had they been successful?

Neither an EC official nor an Apple representative responded to requests for comment.

Security researchers have said the recipients of Apple's warning were targeted using ForcedEntry, software built by the now-infamous NSO Group. ForcedEntry, as its name suggests, is designed to help government intelligence agencies invisibly take control over iPhones and other Apple devices.

NSO denied any involvement in the case, telling Reuters that the hacking could not have occurred using its tools.

In general, the firm has long asserted that its products are exclusively used for legitimate law enforcement and terrorist investigations, not for domestic espionage purposes.

It said it would welcome a probe into the case, and that it supports the establishment of global regulations for the spyware sector.

News of the targeting comes as the EU begins to follow the United States' lead in scrutinising spyware firms like NSO.

During its session on 19th April, the European Parliament will launch a committee to study the use of surveillance software in European member states.

The committee has been formed in response to claims that Israeli spyware had been used to hack the phones of leading opposition leaders in Poland, as well as notable opponents and investigative journalists in Hungary - two countries where right-wing nationalism is either on the rise or already firmly embedded in government.

Both nations have denied involvement in charges of domestic spying, but Polish authorities and a Hungarian ruling party politician have admitted that their governments acquired NSO software.

Kenneth Lasoen, a research fellow at the Clingendael Netherlands Institute of International Relations, told Reuters that it was important not to jump to conclusions about who could be behind the latest hack. The EU is a high-profile target for numerous actors, and "Brussels is a true nest of espionage," he said.