Caught in the eye of a storm, the Israeli NSO Group has suspended some of its clients from using its spyware Pegasus. However there is no clarity on who these clients are. The move comes on the back of mounting pressure from the French government, which is extremely upset over reports that President Macron's phone may have been targeted for surveillance.

A global investigation by seventeen media groups has revealed that governments across geographies may have used a spyware called Pegasus designed by an Israeli company for surveillance on journalists, politicians, businessmen, human rights activists and people from the legal fraternity among others.

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The Israeli government is now coming under a lot of pressure, especially from the French government. The French President's office is taking this matter very seriously and investigation has been ordered.

The French cybersecurity agency has confirmed that phones of to friend journalists from the media part news agency were indeed hacked. So this is the first government which is confirming that yes, Pegasus spyware was used to snoop on journalists and individuals in a country.

French President Macron earlier this week had launched a strong protest with the new Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and also urged him to carry out a thorough investigation and confirm whether French phones were hacked or not.

CNBC-TV18’s Parikshit Luthra gets the latest on the global ramifications of the Pegasus report.

(Edited by : Abhishek Jha)

First Published:Jul 30, 2021 8:15 PM IST