This article was last updated on April 10, 2025
Canada: 
Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…
USA: Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…
Table of Contents
In the Netherlands, eleven victims of notorious Israeli espionage software
Eleven people in the Netherlands have fallen victim to notorious Israeli espionage software. This is apparent from a list of the number of victims per country, which was submitted to a lawsuit in the United States. The overview makes it clear for the first time how big the issue is for the Netherlands.
The spy software Pegasus of the NSO company from Israel can see WhatsApp messages, turn on the camera and microphone, find out, see which photos and videos have been taken, empty the address book and view the internet history.
It is not clear from the public list who is spying in the Netherlands with the Pegasus software. It is also not clear who is behind the espionage: it can also be foreign attacks on people in the Netherlands.
Pegasus is officially only intended for intelligence and security services in the fight against terrorism and serious crime. But international research shows that the software was also used against journalists, lawyers, politicians and activists.
The Netherlands bought Pegasus
The Netherlands has most cases of espionage with Pegasus in Europe, except for a country. Only in Spain are more victims: 21. Most cases are outside of Europe, such as Mexico (456) and Morocco (69), where the software was used against journalists and activists.
In Spain the head of the secret service resigned after the use of Pegasus. The software turned out to be used against people around the independence movement of Catalonia.
The Netherlands also bought the software. In 2022 unveiled de Volkskrant that the Dutch intelligence service AIVD software from NSO has used to hack Ridouan Taghi’s phone.
Court case WhatsApp against NSO
The list of victims has been submitted in a lawsuit between WhatsApp and NSO. In 2019 it turned out that the Israeli company abused a leak in WhatsApp to install the spy software unseen on the phones of victims.
In December, the court ruled that NSO violated US law by contaminating telephones via WhatsApp. According to WhatsApp, at least one hundred human rights activists and journalists have fallen victim to that way.
Be the first to comment