During a news briefing on Tuesday, Poland's new prime minister, Donald Tusk, revealed that he possesses evidence proving that state authorities under the previous government had illegally utilized the powerful Pegasus spyware. Tusk, who was accompanied by President Andrzej Duda, a political opponent aligned with the previous ruling party, made the announcement, shedding light on a "very long" list of hacking victims. The alleged use of Pegasus occurred during the tenure of the right-wing Law and Justice party.

Pegasus spyware grants operators complete access to a mobile device, enabling them to extract passwords, photos, messages, contacts, browsing histories, and even activate the microphone and camera for real-time eavesdropping. Tusk stated that he was sharing information with President Duda, showcasing the extensive use of the spyware within Poland. He emphasized the significance of the documents at their disposal during a meeting of the Cabinet Council, a consultation format between the president and the government. However, it is yet to be seen how President Duda will respond to this revelation.

Tusk, who assumed power in December after winning the October election as the head of a broad centrist alliance, put an end to the eight-year rule of Law and Justice, a populist party that had faced criticism from the European Union for undermining democratic norms. In response to the alleged use of Pegasus, the new parliament has established a special commission to investigate the extent of its utilization and the targets during Law and Justice's time in government. Tusk expressed his concern over the extensive list of victims affected by these practices, although the specific names have not been publicly disclosed.

The University of Toronto's nonprofit Citizen Lab, in an exclusive report by The Associated Press, found that several Polish opponents of the previous government were targeted with Pegasus, a spyware program developed by Israel's NSO Group. John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher with Citizen Lab, who discovered the initial cases of Pegasus use in Poland, stated that this confirmation validates the victims' experiences and the technical and forensic methods used to verify infections. He further emphasized the dangers of commercial spyware like Pegasus to democracy and its inherent potential for abuse.

The NSO Group has maintained that it only sells its spyware to legitimate government law enforcement and intelligence agencies that have been vetted by Israel's Defense Ministry, with the intention of combating terrorism and criminal activities. However, evidence has emerged of human rights activists and politicians being targeted by governments worldwide. In some cases, individuals who were hacked received notifications from Apple, their phone maker, leading them to seek confirmation from Citizen Lab. Scott-Railton highlighted the importance of Apple's threat notifications in holding commercial spyware abuses accountable and how these notifications were the initial indication for researchers and reporters of a potential spyware scandal in Poland.

President Duda, who served during Law and Justice's years in power and possesses presidential veto power, has occasionally opposed Tusk's efforts to implement his agenda. Tusk expressed his willingness to provide President Duda with a complete set of documents if he expresses interest in further investigation. The revelation of the illegal use of Pegasus spyware in Poland has raised concerns about privacy, democracy, and the potential abuse of such surveillance technology.