A Serbian university rector’s iPhone was confirmed to be infected with NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware shortly before the country’s election. The case points to targeted mercenary spyware use against a high-profile academic in a politically sensitive period. Pegasus is a commercial phone-hacking tool known for covert surveillance of messages, calls, and device data; the article text provided does not specify a CVE, exploit chain, or delivery method.
Why it matters: This matters because spyware aimed at prominent civil-society or academic figures near an election can intimidate critics and expose sensitive communications. People at elevated risk in Serbia should urgently update devices, enable lockdown-style protections where available, and seek forensic review if they suspect targeting.
info@thehackernews.com (The Hacker News)
2026.10.20
100% relevant
This article establishes a distinct spyware-targeting incident in Serbia involving Pegasus and an election-period target, and it does not clearly match an existing tracked story about a different Pegasus case in Greece or Serbia-focused opposition targeting.
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