This is one name added to the long list of French victims of Pegasus software. Traces of infection with this powerful spyware were found on Florence Farley’s phone and date back to her time as Defense Minister, Mediapart revealed on Tuesday 16 May.
Florence Parly, who did not want to react to the news site, joins the five ministers whose target was confirmed by the analyzes of the French authorities, in this case Jean-Michel Blanquer, Jacqueline Gourault, Julien Denormandie, Emmanuelle Wargon and Sebastien Lecornu.
Traces on the phone of Florence Farley, who was notified of the discovery on May 11, were discovered as part of a judicial inquiry handed over to investigating magistrate Serge Tournaire. Mediapart did not specify the exact date of the infection or whether the traces found could be traced back to the country responsible for the attack.
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Twenty-three confirmed victims
It has been revealed that the worldA media consortium led by Radio France and Forbidden Stories, part of the French government, as well as Prime Ministers Edouard Philippe and Emmanuel Macron, found themselves in the sights of Morocco, one of the clients of Israeli manufacturer NSO Group. Pegasus.
Two investigations, one by the judiciary and one by the administration, were carried out to find out whether traces of the infection could actually be found on the phones of the politicians involved. Apart from the government, many personalities from civil society have been affected by Pegasus in France.
According to Mediapart, twenty-three victims were confirmed through the judicial investigation, including two journalists from the news site, Edwi Blennell and Lennox Bredoux, but also the wife of the activist for the independence of Western Sahara, Claude Mankin, or journalists from the Moroccan regime. Judicial Information Opened in July Computer hacking, “invasion of privacy”, “criminal association” and “interference, misappropriation, use and disclosure of correspondence”.
