EU Politicians Investigated Pegasus Spyware. Then It Ended Up on One of Their Phones
Key takeaways
- “I was not expecting that,” Kouloglou, a longtime investigative journalist who served as a member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2015 to 2024, tells WIRED.
- “Me being a member of the Pegasus Committee investigating Pegasus and at the same time being hacked by Pegasus,” he says, “it was something really too reckless.”
- The revelation that Kouloglou’s device was targeted—not once, but multiple times—by the Pegasus spyware, created by Israeli firm NSO Group, was published on Friday by the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab.
Why this matters: a development in AI with implications for how people work, create, and decide.
The European Parliament building in Strasbourg, France.PHOTOGRAPH: Hiroshi Higuchi/Getty Images Comment Loader Save Story Save this story Comment Loader Save Story Save this story In the summer of 2022, Greek politician Stelios Kouloglou was investigating how intrusive spyware had been used to hack business leaders, law enforcement officials, and politicians. As part of the European Parliament’s PEGA Committee, set up to investigate the use of the notorious Pegasus spyware and other variants, Kouloglou travelled to interview spyware victims and probe high-profile cases. That fall, according to a new forensic analysis, Kouloglou’s iPhone was hacked with the very same Pegasus spyware at the center of the investigations.
“I was not expecting that,” Kouloglou, a longtime investigative journalist who served as a member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2015 to 2024, tells WIRED. He says that when he recently found out his device had been compromised by the powerful spyware, he was shocked and then angry.
“Me being a member of the Pegasus Committee investigating Pegasus and at the same time being hacked by Pegasus,” he says, “it was something really too reckless.”