French President Emanuel Macron is among more than a dozen world leaders whose phone numbers have appeared in a leaked database from surveillance comp

The Pegasus project has unveiled potential surveillance on world leaders like Emmanuel Macron. Here's what we know

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2021-07-21 05:00:04

French President Emanuel Macron is among more than a dozen world leaders whose phone numbers have appeared in a leaked database from surveillance company NSO, linked to its Pegasus malware.

The revelations don't necessarily mean the leaders' phones were hacked, but suggest the people on the list were potential surveillance targets for government clients of the private hacking company.

It puts the world leaders in the company of journalists, business leaders and human rights activists, some of whom Amnesty International says were victims of spying.

The 50,000 phone numbers in the list could have become targets for Pegasus, which can take control of a phone's data, microphone and camera without the user knowing.

Here's what you need to know on the revelations, first reported by a global media consortium known as the Pegasus Project, which included journalists from the Guardian, the Washington Post and Le Monde.

NSO Group is an Israeli cybersecurity company that's been described as a hacker for hire, and Pegasus spyware is a tool for monitoring targeted people.