Senior EU Officials Were Targeted With Israeli Spyware

Senior officials at the European Commission were targeted last year with spy software designed by an Israeli surveillance firm, according to two EU officials and documentation reviewed by Reuters. From the report: Among them was Didier Reynders, a senior Belgian statesman who has served as the European Justice Commissioner since 2019, according to one of the documents. At least four other commission staffers were also targeted, according to the document and another person familiar with the matter. The two EU officials confirmed that staffers at the commission had been targeted but did not provide details.

The commission became aware of the targeting following messages issued by Apple to thousands of iPhone owners in November telling them they were "targeted by state-sponsored attackers," the two EU officials said. It was the first time Apple had sent a mass alert to users that they were in government hackers' crosshairs. The warnings triggered immediate concern at the commission, the two officials said. In a Nov. 26 email reviewed by Reuters, a senior tech staffer sent a message to colleagues with background about Israeli hacking tools and a request to be on the lookout for additional warnings from Apple.

Embarrassing or deliberate?

[RemindMeLater]

That Apple can't patch these holes.

Pegasus spyware?

[fermion]

Or has Israel, the dominate police state still supported by the west, become a hub for developing covert surveillance software. Like Panama in money laundering. In any case, it is getting to the point where we might think of a technology embargo to keep us safe.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

If you think Israel is a police state you've obviously never been there.

Re:

[mspohr]

Israel has a lot to fear from EU Justice so I'm sure they want to keep track of those folks.

Re:Pegasus spyware?

[smooth wombat]

Israel has a lot to fear from EU Justice so I'm sure they want to keep track of those folks

The perhaps Israel should abandon its apartheid and stop forcing people off land they've lived on for centuries. Maybe then Israel wouldn't have to fear anything.

Re:

[HiThere]

I'm not sure that abandoning the apartheid is feasible at the time, because they have systematically ensured that the separated faction hates them. "Stop forcing people off land" is definitely something that they should do however.
The thing is both groups of people claim the same land for the same reason: "This is the land of our ancestors!", and they're both telling the truth. They're just talking about slightly different time periods. The Israelis have been pledging to go back there ever since the Rom

Re:

[smooth wombat]

The thing is both groups of people claim the same land for the same reason: "This is the land of our ancestors!", and they're both telling the truth. They're just talking about slightly different time periods. The Israelis have been pledging to go back there ever since the Romans deported them as troublemakers.

Palestinians and Jews are the same people separated by two religions.

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[fermion]

Who was here first, and who deserves what, depends on what FSM one believes I. The one that gave the land into perpetuity? One that gave other people the land? Or perhaps one that demands there be a place called isles; that ssn be destroyed do the savior may return.

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:Pegasus spyware?

[rantrantrant]

I knew a Jewish guy who used to get his dry cleaning done where the owner was an anti-semitic conspiracy theorist. His partner asked him why he kept going back there. You know what he said? "I go in there feeling downtrodden & leave feeling like I run the world!"

Re:

[rantrantrant]

Israel's biggest trading partner by far is the EU so getting caught spying on them is a pretty stupid thing to do. Also, the Israeli intelligence services get 'given' hacking & spyware tools by the USA, but they tweak them to make them so aggressive that they're found by security researchers; how embarrassing! I tend to think of Mossad's temperament as something like the New York Jewish mother-in-law stereotype, i.e. a bit unstable & often quite vindictive & irrational.

Re:

[rantrantrant]

To be fair, the Americans got caught spying on EU officials & leaders too. They haven't forgotten.

Re:

[HiThere]

Try rephrasing that as "my New York Jewish mother-in-law stereotype". I've known others from New York who had quite different stereotypes. (Admittedly, they were intrusive, but just about all "mother-in-law stereotype"s that I've ever encountered have been intrusive.)

By the direction of the US governmnet?

[jellomizer]

It isn't like there is no president with that type of stuff happening before.

no big deal until it happens to me

[zeiche]

this story has been unfolding slowly for years yet these EU officials didn’t seem to bothered until Apple notified them about their phones being hacked. they’re bothered now. thanks for all the concern.

Re: no big deal until it happens to me

[ehack]

Loss of face in front of their constituents.
They can't defend and can't retaliate, and become a joke.

Serves Mr. Reynders right

[ffkom]

Didier Reynders is among those politicians who have continuously undermined EU data protection laws by agreeing into sham contracts like "Safe Harbour" and "Privacy Shield", well knowing those were contradicting EU law (as also EU courts ruled), and not worth the paper they were written on. He personally is also responsible for not enforcing existing GDPR regulations. It serves Mr. Reynders right that his data is exposed, just as much as he has helped to expose EU citizen's data.

Example sources: https://www.mrweb.com/drno/new... [mrweb.com]
https://www.euractiv.com/secti... [euractiv.com]

Hacking the EC is like punching a puppy.

[henkvanderlaak]

I bet these old unelected farts would click on a 'Don't click me!' banner.