The Mexican attorney general’s office, headed by Alejandro Gertz Manero, reported on Sunday, October 16, that is investigating the previous administration’s purchase of Pegasus spyware and whether it was carried out legally.
In a statement, the office referred to existing investigations of two people, including a prominent former official, into the use of spyware, days after the current government, led by Andrés Manuel López Obrador, denied spying on journalists or critics.
Pegasus belongs to the Israeli spyware firm NSO Group, which normally only sells the software to governments or law enforcement organizations, according to the report posted on the Pegasus website. Reuters.
Spyware is installed on devices running certain versions of iOS and Android, and it is able to read text messages, trace calls, collect passwords, track phone location and collect information from apps.
A million dollar purchase
In the statement, Mexican prosecutors assured that they were analyzing the acquisition of Pegasus by the former attorney general’s office. for 457 million Mexican pesos, equivalent to 23 million dollars.
The researchers try to establish whether the purchase had been made with due justification and whether the necessary public bidding procedures had been followed.
In the second investigation, the office said judicial authorities had received evidence that NSO had been “illegally selling” Pegasus, without providing further details.
NSO told Reuters that it licenses Pegasus only to law enforcement and intelligence agencies of sovereign states and government agencies after approval by the Israeli government, and terminates contracts when irregularities are detected.
The attorney general’s announcement was issued nearly two weeks after President López Obrador denied that his officials were spying on journalists or opponents after a watchdog reported that the phones of at least three people investigating human rights abuses in Mexico were infected with Pegasus.