Why do Government Officials and Agencies Keep Getting Hacked?

If Watergate had happened today, perhaps the Nixon team would not have needed to infiltrate the office for physical eavesdropping. Today’s covert intelligence work leverages networks that can be deployed remotely behind a screen to hack into a target’s electronic devices and obtain classified information.

Over the past decade, cyber attacks have become more destructive, more widespread, and in many cases more political. Heads of state and dignitaries have had their private information and devices compromised by spyware, resulting in leaks of private information, while government agencies have faced dual attacks that include not only spyware but also ransomware. In a time of exponential growth in cyber attacks, countries see cyber security as a key national security challenge.

Cyberattack on several heads of state steals classified information

In recent years, dozens of government officials have had their phones hacked, including French President Emmanuel Macron, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, staff members of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, former British Prime Minister Liz Truss, the EU Justice Commissioner, and U.S. diplomats.

These dignitaries’ phones are usually fitted with Pegasus software (Pegasus spyware) from the Israeli company NSO Group…