Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Monday, Sep 15, 2025

Hungarian official: Government bought, used Pegasus spyware

Hungarian official: Government bought, used Pegasus spyware

A senior official in Hungary’s governing party acknowledged for the first time on Thursday that the government purchased a powerful spyware tool, which was allegedly used to target journalists, businesspeople and an opposition politician.
Lajos Kosa, chairman of parliament’s Committee on Defense and Law Enforcement, confirmed to journalists following a closed committee session that Hungary’s Interior Ministry had bought the military-grade spyware Pegasus, produced by Israel-based NSO Group.

It was the first time a Hungarian official openly acknowledged the government’s use of the malware, which infiltrates phones to collect personal and location data and can surreptitiously control the phone’s microphones and cameras.

An investigation by a global media consortium published in July said that Pegasus was used in Hungary to infiltrate the digital devices of a range of targets — including at least 10 lawyers, one opposition politician and several government-critical journalists.

Subsequent investigations by Hungarian investigative journalism outlet Direkt36 have suggested that at least two publishers of government-critical media as well as a former state secretary were also targeted with the software.

Kosa, a vice-president of Hungary’s governing Fidesz party, insisted that Hungary’s security services and Interior Ministry had acted legally in every case of surveillance, receiving permission either from courts or the Ministry of Justice.

But opposition lawmakers have demanded an inquiry into the government’s use of Pegasus, and complained that the findings of two special committee sessions examining the case — including Thursday’s meeting of the Committee on Defense and Law Enforcement — had been classified by the governing party until 2050.

The alleged use of the malware against critical journalists in Hungary comes amid enduring condemnation of right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban from the European Union, of which Hungary is a member.

Orban’s critics say he has systematically wrested Hungary’s media into government control, and brought the country under increasingly autocratic rule.

In October, a spokeswoman for an EU fact-finding delegation to Hungary told journalists that the government’s refusal to confirm or deny whether it was responsible for the spying was “of great concern for the European Parliament,” but that there was “a clear sign that it was done by the government itself.”

On Wednesday, the Biden administration announced it would place new export limits on Israel’s NSO Group, the maker of Pegasus, saying its tools have been used to “conduct transnational repression.”

But Kosa told journalists on Thursday that he saw no reason to object to the government’s use of Pegasus. According to Hungarian state news agency MTI, he argued that “tech giants conduct much wider surveillance” on their users than the Hungarian government had.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
High-Stakes Trump-Putin Summit on Ukraine Underway in Alaska
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
×