London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Oct 05, 2025

Poland admits buying Israeli Pegasus spyware

Poland admits buying Israeli Pegasus spyware

The leader of the ruling Law and Justice party says it's a good thing that his country obtained the high-tech surveillance software
Poland’s most powerful lawmaker has admitted that his country purchased spyware from the controversial Israeli NSO Group. He denied it was being used to target politicians, however, claiming it was used by the secret services.

Speaking to the weekly right-wing magazine Sieci, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, said that it was a positive thing that Polish security services were using powerful snooping software.

“It would be bad if the Polish services did not have this type of tool,” Kaczynski stated, referring to the Israeli NSO software. The full interview is due to be published in Monday’s edition of Sieci, but excerpts were published on Friday by news portal wPolityce.pl.

Kaczynski said that the Pegasus software represented a great technological advancement over existing surveillance systems, noting that security services had previously been unable to read encrypted messages.

While admitting that Poland had bought the software from the now-embattled NSO Group, he claimed it had not been used to target politicians, Associated Press reported.

The admission follows a number of allegations leveled against the Polish government concerning the use of Pegasus software to snoop on political opponents.

In a scandal dubbed ‘Polish Watergate’ by local media, it is alleged that the government of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki had spied on Krzysztof Brejza, a member of the Civic Platform party who coordinated its 2019 election campaign, and on Roman Giertych, a lawyer involved in cases against the PiS party.

It is also alleged that Ewa Wrzosek, a prosecutor and opposition figure, has been snooped-on. The allegations were made by Citizen Lab, a cyber-watchdog group at the University of Toronto.

“There is nothing here, no fact, except the hysteria of the opposition. There is no Pegasus case, no surveillance,” Kaczynski said in the interview.

“No Pegasus, no services, no secretly obtained information played any role in the 2019 election campaign. They lost because they lost. They shouldn’t look for such excuses today,” he added.

Kaczynski’s allies have previously denied any dealings with the Israeli spyware-maker. Morawiecki said the Citizen Lab and AP findings were “fake news” and claimed foreign agents could have been using the spyware.

The NSO software grants the user the ability to access the smartphone of their targets, to read messages, look through photos, track locations, and even to switch on the camera, all without the knowledge of the device’s user.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
×