Traces of spyware identified on mobile phones of two journalists in Togo -RSF
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (PANA) - As the trial of two Togolese journalists prosecuted by a member of the government got under way at the beginning of January, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) found evidence of intrusion on their mobile phones, characteristic of the Pegasus software used by Togo until at least 2021, RSF reported in a press release on Tuesday.
One of them was even the target of a massive cyberespionage operation throughout the first half of that year, according to RSF, which is calling on the Togolese authorities to explain these revelations.
The RSF press release pointed out that between 1 February and 10 July 2021, at least 23 intrusions were identified on one of the telephones used by Loïc Lawson, editor of Flambeau des démocrates, a leading independent weekly in Togo.
His colleague, freelance journalist Anani Sossou, also suffered a similar attack on his phone a few months later, on 25 October 2021.
"After several months of investigation, this is what is revealed by the technical analyses carried out by RSF's Digital Security Lab, a service of the organization that enables attacks targeting journalists' smartphones to be detected," it said.
The intrusions against the Togolese journalists were carried out using Pegasus, a formidable spyware programme, one of the most powerful in the world, marketed by the Israeli company NSO, of which the Togolese government was a known client at the time, RSF reported.
The conclusions of these technical analyses have been independently confirmed by Amnesty International's Security Lab, a key player in this field that has identified numerous cases of surveillance using this spyware around the world.
RSF examined the mobile phones of Lawson and Sossou from the beginning of December 2023.
At the time, the two media professionals had just spent 18 days in pre-trial detention following a complaint by the Minister of Urban Planning, Housing and Land Reform, Kodjo Adedze, that the equivalent of 600,000 euros had been stolen from his home during a burglary.
The proceedings have taken on disproportionate proportions. The minister, who has never revealed the extent of the loss, simply disputed the amount.
The two journalists are being sued for "defamation", "attack on honour" and even "incitement to revolt" in a trial that opened in early January.
"It was while investigating the circumstances of this completely arbitrary arrest and the charges brought against these journalists that we discovered that they had in fact been in the sights of the Togolese authorities for a long time, as shown by the industrial cyberespionage to which Loïc Lawson was subjected in 2021," said Arnaud Froger, Head of RSF's Investigations Department.
"Until the Pegasus scandal broke in July of that year and shattered Togo, the intrusions into his laptop took place at a staggering rate, up to several times a week for six months, giving the perpetrators access to all the journalist's data. These are the first proven cases of journalists being targeted by spying software in this country.
"It is up to the courts to establish the responsibility of the Togolese authorities and NSO, the company that supplied the spyware," he added.
Nicolas Diaz, Head of Security and Digital Operations at RSF, explained that by mobilizing its network of cyber defenders, engineers and technicians, RSF is increasing its skills in the field of digital investigation.
"The situation has changed. Today, we can shed light on this type of modus operandi targeting journalists and send a strong signal to the vendors of this spyware and their customers," he said.
After learning from RSF that he had been closely monitored and still reeling from his recent detention, Lawson said he was "very worried about the extent of the information to which the perpetrators of this operation have been able to gain access".
He believes that the intrusions may have been used to identify some of his sources.
-0- PANA TNDD/JSG/BBA/RA 23Jan2024
