Dozens of journalists and human rights defenders in El Salvador had their cellphones repeatedly hacked with sophisticated spyware over the past year and a half, an internet watchdog said Wednesday.
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Reporting on its latest findings about the use of the Israeli firm NSO Group's Pegasus spyware, the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab said it had identified a Pegasus operator working almost exclusively in El Salvador in early 2020.
While the researchers could not conclusively link the hacks to El Salvador's government, the report said "the strong country-specific focus of the infections suggests that this is very likely."
Sofía Medina, a spokeswoman for President Nayib Bukele, said in a statement that "El Salvador is no way associated with Pegasus and nor is a client of NSO Group." She said the government does not have licenses to use this type of software.
The government is investigating the use of Pegasus to hack phones in El Salvador, she said.
