Mexico Government Continues to Use Spyware Against Activists Despite AMLO's Promise to Stop

By Rick Martin Oct 03 2022, 23:08 PM EDT

Previous administrations have employed the use of the Israeli spyware program Pegasus against human rights activists investigating acts of human rights abuse done by the Mexican military. However, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has promised to stop this practice.

However, press freedom groups pointed out that despite this promise, Pegasus is still being used against activists.

Pegasus is a type of spyware designed to hack into the cellphones of activists. The University of Toronto group Citizen Lab conducted a forensic investigation into the matter and confirmed that the Mexican government is still using Pegasus.

Study Finds Pegasus Spyware Being Used Vs. Journalists and Human Rights Defenders

According to Citizen Lab's findings, despite the promises made by AMLO, Mexican digital rights organization R3D (Red en Los Defensa de Los Derechos Digitales) has found that between 2019 and 2021, devices owned by journalists and a human rights defender have been infected by the Pegasus spyware. These infections happened during the AMLO presidency and after he promised not to use the spyware on citizens anymore.

Citizen Lab provided technical support for R3D during their analysis and helped validate the infections. It researches the use of political power in cyberspace, as well as the use of spyware against activists, journalists, and dissidents. The research found that these infections started in 2016, long before AMLO became president. However, it continued until 2021, long after he made that promise.

The most prominent victims include two journalists, both of whom were reporting on corruption by Mexican officials. Another is a prominent human rights defender.

However, the Pegasus spyware was also used against anti-corruption groups, prominent lawmakers, international investigators, and the spouse of a journalist killed by a drug cartel.

The prominent activist being targeted was identified as Raymundo Ramos. According to the Associated Press, he worked for years documenting military and police abuses, including multiple killings, in the border city of Nuevo Laredo, a cartel stronghold. His phone was infected with Pegasus spyware in 2020.

"They do not like us documenting these types of cases, for them to be made public and have criminal complaints filed," Ramos said.

What Is the Pegasus Spyware?

According to Security.nl, the spyware is used by the Mexican military and was developed by an Israeli NSO group. It is mainly used to spy on their victims via their phone's microphone and camera. It also makes it possible for the government to eavesdrop and intercept conversations and communications via WhatsApp, Gmail, Viber, Facebook, Telegram, Skype, WeChat, and other apps.

The spyware is distributed using zero-click attacks and largely targets iPhones. This means that no deception was required to trick victims into clicking. However, Citizen Lab previously reported that several Mexican cases were done via "malicious text messages designed to trick targets into clicking on a link that would trigger an infection."

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Pegasus: the spyware technology that threatens democracy - The Guardian