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Security researchers say two pro-democracy activists were subjected to a state-sponsored hacking attempt.
Critics of Serbia's nationalist government, who have documented the country's endemic corruption, were targeted with military-grade spyware earlier this year, according to findings by security researchers.
The attempt to hack two Serbian pro-democracy activists was not successful because both individuals' Apple iPhones were updated to the latest iOS software.
The individuals were first notified of the hacking attempt by Apple, which sent the two an alert that they may have been targeted by a state-sponsored actor. The warning was later confirmed following investigations by researchers at Access Now, the Share Foundation in Serbia, the Citizen Lab at the Munk School at the University of Toronto, and Amnesty International.
The findings come just months after researchers revealed that Russian journalists who are critical of Vladimir Putin and live in the European Union were also targeted with spyware. The Council of Europe and the European Parliament have sought to advance policies that would curb the use of spyware, but the emergence of new cases within the bloc shows an apparent willingness by some European governments to continue using spyware to suppress and intimidate political critics.
"These findings are extremely disturbing for the rule of law and democracy in Serbia. The uncontrolled use of commercial spyware is poison not only for human rights, but also for security and democratic institutions in any country ," said Natalia Krapiva, technology legal advisor at Access Now.
The researchers found that the Serbs were targeted about a minute apart on or around August 16, 2023. Access Now and Citizen Lab discovered traces of the attempted attack, which sought to take advantage of a potential vulnerability in the iPhone's HomeKit app.
The researchers said the use of the technical weakness was "consistent" with those previously used by Israel's NSO Group, which sells one of the world's most sophisticated cyber weapons, known as Pegasus. When Pegasus is successfully deployed against a target, it can essentially take over a mobile phone, including turning the phone into a portable listening device. It can also access information held in encrypted apps and view a user's photos and messages.
Researchers in the Serbian case cannot definitively confirm what type of spyware was used because the available forensic indicators were limited.
" We are not attributing these attacks to a specific operator at this time, but we note that a decade of Citizen Lab investigations have revealed that Serbia is a regular customer for mercenary spyware and other commercial surveillance technologies," said John Scott . -Railton a senior researcher at Citizen Lab.
The NSO said in a statement to the Guardian that the Citizen Lab and Access Now report was not "conclusive". The company has repeatedly said that Pegasus is sold to governments for use in serious crime and terrorism investigations and that its use "saves lives".
" The NSO does not operate its own technology and is not privy to the intelligence collected ," said the NOS representative.
While researchers cannot definitively attribute the attempted attacks in Serbia to a specific spyware, the attempted attacks are likely to renew focus on past findings involving covert data collection and surveillance by Serbia's Security Information Agency (BIA).
The most recent director of the BIA was Alexander Vulin, who was placed on a sanctions list by the US Treasury in July 2023 for his support of Moscow and for using his "political positions to build support for activities Russia's malignancy" and to promote instability in Serbia. Vulin resigned from his post on November 3.
An alleged victim of the hacking attempt, who was interviewed by the Guardian, described their work as focused on being critical of Serbia's "autocratic regime" and the country's "widespread corruption", as well as its pro- of the current government, which is out of line with the EU on issues such as sanctions against Moscow.
The hacking attempt, the person said, was likely an attempt to intimidate or discredit their work. The Serbian government did not respond to requests for comment. / Adapted "Pamphlet" from "The Guardian"
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