Pegasus Spyware and Digital Evidence: A New Warning for Public Trust
On July 3, 2026, Citizen Lab published a report finding that former Member of the European Parliament Stelios Kouloglou was repeatedly hacked with NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware while serving on the PEGA Committee, the committee investigating Pegasus and other spyware abuses in Europe. Citizen Lab states that forensic analysis of his device showed the attackers could have had access to confidential documents and committee deliberations. This incident is especially important because it shows that modern digital surveillance is no longer only a private-phone security issue. When a smartphone belonging to a policymaker, journalist, investigator, lawyer, activist, or public official is compromised, the impact can extend to confidential communications, institutional trust, legal processes, and democratic oversight. Why this matters Smartphones are now central to professional life. They carry messages, emails, documents, cloud access, authentication apps, travel records, photos, contacts,...