With this malware – it is added – it was also possible to have access to the passwords stored on the phones of the people being spied on, activate the microphone and the camera remotely and “delete any trace of the infection, becoming almost undetectable”.
According to this investigation, in which Article 19 Mexico and Central America and SocialTIC also participated, with the support of Citizen Lab of the University of Toronto, in collaboration with Aristegui Noticias, Proceso and Animal Politico, evidence was found that in the current government, the Pegasus espionage software was operated on at least three people.
The information was made public through the portal “ armyspy.r3d.mx ”, where it is recalled that the Israeli company that created the spy software, NSO Group, has stated that it only sells its products to governments.
In the case of Mexico, there is evidence that the López Obrador government “has signed contracts” with companies linked to the sale of Pegasus malware, the investigation warns.
This is the case of Marco Antonio Suárez Cedillo, “who appears as the legal representative of the company Diseños y Proyectos VME, which signed contracts and received payments related to Pegasus from CISEN, the PGR and SEDENA during the past six-year term” and now holds as the legal representative of Comercializadora Antsua, supplier since December 2019 of a service of alleged “lease and technical support of computer equipment”.
Antsua is the firm authorized by NSO Group to offer Pegasus in Mexico. However, the contract is reserved for five years (until 2024 when the six-year term ends) for alleged reasons of national security.
In addition, it is reported that the recent hacking of the Guacamaya group allegedly revealed that Sedena acquired a “Remote Information Monitoring Service” from Comercializadora Antsua, in April 2019, under contract DN-10 SAIT-1075/P/2019. .
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“Contrary to the promises of the current president, the Secretary of National Defense (Sedena) acquired during this government a remote information monitoring system from the company with exclusive representation to sell Pegasus in Mexico. The evidence also proves that Sedena has systematically lied to various instances to hide the existence of said contract,” the authors state.
After the elements presented, the investigation concludes that the federal government has failed to fulfill its commitment to end illegal espionage in Mexico.
