THE article reports that the Moroccan intelligence service, DGST, is accused by Amnesty International of operating a broad surveillance apparatus that goes beyond the use of Pegasus spyware. Amnesty describes ambient room eavesdropping, concealed cameras, geolocation tracking, and even direct physical intrusion into personal devices, with a former DGST operative using the pseudonym Safir providing testimony.
The allegations include infections of computers in internet cafés and covert spyware installation on smartphones, with claims that some retail outlets sold devices that appeared clean but were already compromised.
Regarding methods and scope, Amnesty links the DGST to the deployment of Pegasus (developed by the NSO Group) for remote surveillance of journalists and activists from 2017 to 2021. Infections are said to have occurred through malicious links, zero-click exploits, and manipulation of network traffic, with a prior incident on journalist Omar Radi’s mobile device cited as a parallel case.
Amnesty has reportedly correlated 103 Moroccan phone numbers on the Pegasus targeting list from September to December 2017 to specific individuals, including 34 human rights advocates and 22 journalists or media personnel, alongside lawyers, politicians, diplomats and academics. The piece also notes that Morocco has historically sourced surveillance technology from other vendors, including Hacking Team and FinFisher, and references the 2015 Hacking Team data breach.
Moroccan authorities are said to deny spyware use, and Amnesty’s findings are referenced as a new investigation that the government reportedly did not respond to.