Jordanian rights lawyer speaks about the Pegasus hacking of her phone

Jordanian human rights lawyer Hala Ahed Deeb said on Wednesday she would start legal procedures against the controversial Israeli firm NSO after finding out that her mobile phone was hacked by its Pegasus spyware.

Speaking to Quds Press, Deeb said that she did not expect to be a victim of the Israeli espionage software, but she had noticed the camera of her mobile sometimes working automatically.

On Monday, The Guardian reported the outcomes of an investigation carried out by the human rights group Front Line Defenders (FLD) and the digital rights non-profit group Access Now.

According to the newspaper, the investigation found that the mobile phones of Ebtisam al Saegh, a Bahraini human rights defender, and Hala Ahed Deeb, who works with human rights and feminist groups in Jordan, had been hacked using the NSO's Pegasus spyware.

Jordanians showed their support for Deeb and called on their government to take the appropriate measures "to deter the criminals."

Meanwhile, Head of the Center for Defending Freedom of Journalists, Nidal Mansour, called on the Jordanian government "to open an investigation into the espionage carried out against Deeb."

Mansour told Quds Press: "Hacking the privacy of the lawyer [Deeb] is rejected and condemned. An investigation is needed to know who set up the spyware on her mobile for the purpose of spying."