France is investigating whether journalists have been spied on with NSO Group spyware

French prosecutors are investigating whether NSO Group spyware was used against two French journalists. According to the journalists themselves, they have been spied on by Moroccan intelligence services. Prosecutors are not yet saying which countries are under investigation.

The French prosecutors are looking into the investigation according to France24 to ten possible charges. It is being investigated whether the privacy of the journalists has been infringed, whether there has been fraudulent access to personal electronic devices and whether the attackers were connected to a criminal organization.

The investigation follows a complaint from investigative journalism website Mediapart. This medium claims that phones belonging to founder Edwy Plenel and a journalist were targeted by Moroccan intelligence services. Morocco denies to have used NSO Group spyware. The satirical weekly Le Canard enchaîné would also consider a complaint to the French prosecutors. Other journalists, including Le Monde, Agence France-Presse and France24, are also said to have been targeted by Moroccan intelligence services.

Over the weekend, 17 news organizations said they had found evidence through a joint investigation that Pegasus spyware from the Israeli company NSO Group was used to spy on journalists and human rights activists. Pegasus can eavesdrop and monitor smartphone users remotely. For example, messages, photos and e-mails can be copied.

The company itself denies that the spyware is used for this purpose and says that the software is only intended to detect potential criminals and terrorists. NSO Group says it thoroughly checks customer human rights files before making a sale.