Woman Tells Congress What It's Like to Be Hacked by NSO's Pegasus
On June 14 of last year, the daughter of Paul Rusesabagina, a former hotel manager credited with saving hundreds of lives during the genocide in Rwanda who is now in prison in the country, met with the Belgian foreign affairs minister to discuss her father’s situation. On the same day, her phone was hacked using tools made by spyware vendor NSO Group, according to forensic analysis of her phone.
On Wednesday, the daughter, whose name is Carine Kanimba, testified in front of Congress in a hearing on the threat of the proliferation of commercial spyware made by companies like NSO Group. In front of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence committee, Kanimba shared her experience as the victim of sophisticated government spyware.
“I was mortified, and I am terrified,” Kanimba said.
Kanimba said she believes NSO Group’s spyware was used by the Rwandan government to keep an eye on her and her family’s efforts to secure the release of her father, who in 2020 was abducted in Dubai and later convicted in Rwanda on terrorism charges. Kanimba explained the psychological pain she’s suffered because of the surveillance.
“I am frightened by what the Rwandan government will do to me and my family next,” she said. “It keeps me awake that they knew everything I was doing, where I was, who I was speaking with, my private thoughts, and actions at any moment they wanted.”
Even now that her case is public, Kanimba said the Rwandan government could still “reinfect” her phone.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3pvaj/woman-tells-congress-what-its-like-to-be-hacked-by-nsos-pegasus
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