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Updated July 29th, 2021 at 14:34 IST

Israel Defense Min meets French counterpart: 'The country takes spyware scandal seriously'

French Defence minister wants to know if Israeli counterpart knew about the clients of the spyware company NSO who possibly targeted the cellphone of Macron

Reported by: Apoorva Kaul
Israel
IMAGE: Florence_Parly/Twitter/AP | Image:self
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Israel Defense Minister Benny Gantz met his French counterpart Florence Parly on July 28. The French government spokesman revealed that Parly was questioning him about "the knowledge the Israeli government had about the activities of NSO clients". French Defence Minister wants to know if Israeli counterpart knew about the clients of the spyware company NSO who possibly targeted the cellphones of Emmanuel Macron and other members of the French government.

Was Macron's phone targeted?

The Israeli Defense Ministry said that the government officials met with representatives of the NSO Group. Gantz noted that the defence ministry regulates all military exports, including cybersecurity products, and private companies like NSO must receive approval to do business abroad. The representatives of several bodies visited the NSO office to assess the allegations raised in regards to the company, AP reported citing the ministry. The government spokesperson Gabriel Attal mentioned that Parly wants to know the measures that will be taken to prevent such “misappropriations''. According to AP, France is trying to investigate the allegations that in 2019 Macron and members of his government may have been targeted by an unidentified Moroccan security service, using NSO’s Pegasus spyware.

NSO said that it was working in transparency with the Israeli authorities. They added that the inspection will prove the facts that are being declared by the company against the false allegations. NSO analysed Macron's phone and determined that it was not hacked, AP reported citing Channel 13. The French government spokesperson added that he would make no further comment due to the ongoing investigation, which also involves "serious, in-depth, very technical" inspections. The Paris prosecutor’s office is also investigating the suspected widespread use of Pegasus to target journalists, human rights groups and politicians in multiple countries. 

Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron held a cybersecurity meeting to weigh possible government action after reports that his cellphone and the members of French government may have been targeted by spyware. The government spokesperson Gabriel Attal had revealed that Macron changes his phones regularly and is “taking the matter very seriously". Attal added that investigations were underway to determine whether the spyware was installed on the phones or whether data was retrieved.

IMAGE: Florence_Parly/Twitter/AP

Inputs from AP

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Published July 29th, 2021 at 14:34 IST

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