THE mobile numbers of President Cyril Ramaphosa, French president Emmanuel Macron and other world leaders have been identified in a leaked database that forms part of the Pegasus project, the Guardian reports.
The Pegasus Project is an international investigative journalism effort that aims to reveal spying abuses by various governments on journalists, politicians, activists, business people and others using the NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware.
The NSO Group is an Israeli technology firm whose spyware enables the remote surveillance of smartphones. It was officially marketed for surveillance of serious criminals and terrorists.
Acting Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said government was ‘unhappy’ and deeply concerned that the president’s phone was targeted for spy purposes.
“Of course we are unhappy because we believe that this infringes on the privacy of the president and the sovereignty of the State and the republic of South Africa,” said Ntshavheni.
“The State Security will look
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