French President's Number Found in Pegasus Spy List of Phone Numbers Moroccan Intelligence Could Have Been Spying on Him

The list of phone numbers selected for surveillance via the Pegasus spyware includes one of French President Emmanuel Macron's numbers, the French publication Le Monde reported.

Macron's number has appeared on a list of phone numbers selected by Moroccan intelligence services for potential hacking using the Pegasus program since 2017. Also on the list of possible targets were the numbers of former French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and 14 ministers. However, it is not known whether all of these numbers were actually hacked, Le Monde notes.

The Elysee Palace, the official residence of the French president, told Le Monde that if the facts reported by the journalists were true, "then they are obviously very serious."

Updated : Among the targets for surveillance via Pegasus were 14 heads of state, The Washington Post reported . In addition to Macron, they included South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Iraqi President Barham Saleh, Morocco's King Mohammed VI, and three current and seven former prime ministers. According to The Guardian, targets also included WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and former Mexican President Felipe Calderon.

• Pegasus is a malicious program that infiltrates iOS or Android devices and allows access to messages, photos, location data, and also activates the camera and microphone without the user's knowledge.
• The program is designed to spy on criminals and terrorists and is only available to government agencies. However, a few days ago, journalists found out that Pegasus was used for mass surveillance of politicians and journalists.