Several hundred NIK devices infected with Pegaus? Expert: Reports seem unlikely

On Friday, there were media reports of an alleged attack on devices used by employees and auditors of the Supreme Audit Office. “NIK experts are still working on the data they obtained and their interpretation. Next week they are to inform about their final findings” – RMF FM reports.

Łukasz Pawelski from the Supreme Audit Office told the station that “employees responsible for the security issue are working intensively in this area. We will inform about the arrangements next week. We plan to convene a press conference for Monday at 13:00”.

Cybersecurity Expert: Reports are Unlikely

We asked an expert to comment on the reports that are still incomplete. Adam Haertle, editor-in-chief of the ZaufanaTrzeciaStrona.pl website, in an interview with Gazeta.pl emphasizes that it is necessary to wait for the full assessment.

– We do not have access to the source data or the report, but only to journalists’ accounts, we do not even know which hand. But reports that several hundred devices were infected with Pegasus seem unlikely, he said.

NIK surveillance? Expert: As far as we know, Pegasus only attacks mobile devices

As the expert explains, the scale of the attack would be unprecedented. – Firstly, it is a huge number, far exceeding the possibilities of law enforcement agencies. Secondly, the list of allegedly infected devices includes, according to the RMF report, servers and laptops – and as far as we know, Pegasus attacks only mobile devices – he explains.

The Gazeta.pl interlocutor also emphasizes that the method of analysis indicated in the report, i.e. verification of what devices connected to specific addresses on the Internet, is not authoritative. – To confirm the infection with Pegasus, you need to analyze the compactness of the device itself. This is a process that requires at least a few hours of analysis in the most limited variant, and in the case of a deeper analysis, probably a much longer study – explains the expert.