Pegasus hacked over a dozen victims during 2021 clashes in the region.
First use of NSO Group’s spyware in military conflict documented as journalists, human rights advocates, a UN official, and civil society members in Armenia were targeted by a government. The campaign, spanning October 2020 to December 2022, seems tied to the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Prior inquiries into NSO Group’s spyware abuses have already confirmed, according to researchers, that Azerbaijan is an NSO Group government client, supported by “significant evidence.”
The significance of this news lies in the unprecedented documentation of Pegasus, a military-grade spyware capable of hacking and remotely controlling any phone, being utilized within a military conflict.
An NSO spokesperson stated that the company is unable to provide a comment on the new report by Access Now and others, as it has not been shared with NSO.
Previous inquiries into allegations of “improper utilization of our technologies” by clients led to the termination of multiple contracts, as stated.
The investigation was carried out by researchers from Access Now, CyberHUB-AM, the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs, Amnesty International’s Security Lab, and Ruben Muradyan, an independent mobile security researcher.
The hacking of individuals in Armenia came to light in November 2021, following a series of clashes on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border that resulted in the loss of at least 200 lives—a significant escalation since the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war.
Additional indications suggest that Azerbaijan is an NSO customer, as highlighted by the Citizen Lab’s discoveries of Pegasus one-click infections associated with infrastructure disguised as Azerbaijani political websites. Amnesty Tech’s investigation also revealed Azerbaijan-related domains that strongly suggest Azerbaijan’s involvement as a potential Pegasus client.
The Armenian and Azerbaijani embassies in the United States have not yet responded to the request for comment.