Progressive People's Party leader Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut and former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva were both warned by Apple that their iPhones were targeted by mercenary spyware. The alerts, sent to users across 110 countries, noted that individuals were singled out due to their identities or professional work. Opposition figures suspect domestic state involvement, pointing to historical precedents where state-linked tools targeted democracy activists. The government rejected these allegations as baseless, maintaining that no state budget has funded spyware procurement in the current or prior fiscal years.
Key points
Opposition politicians argue that a domestic state actor is the most plausible culprit be…: Opposition politicians argue that a domestic state actor is the most plausible culprit behind the digital surveillance attempts.
The Thai government maintains it has not allocated any official budget toward purchasing…: The Thai government maintains it has not allocated any official budget toward purchasing Pegasus spyware for recent financial years.
The recent surveillance warnings echo previous instances where Israeli-made Pegasus softw…: The recent surveillance warnings echo previous instances where Israeli-made Pegasus software targeted dozens of Thai democracy activists in 2020.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut, whose progressive People's Party came second in February's election, shared in a social media post on Tuesday screenshots from his device of a "threat notification" from Apple.
BANGKOK: Thailand's opposition leader was targeted by a spyware attack, his party said on Tuesday (Nov 3), but a government spokesman denied a claim that the state could be behind the attempted surveillance.
Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut, whose progressive People's Party came second in February's election, shared in a social media post on Tuesday screenshots from his device of a "threat notification" from Apple.
"Apple detected that you are being targeted by a mercenary spyware attack that is trying to remotely compromise the iPhone associated with your Apple Account," the notification said.
"This attack is likely targeting you specifically because of who you are or what you do."
It said the notification was sent to "targeted users in 110 countries" and did not identify the attackers.
A cybersecurity watchdog said in 2022 dozens of Thai democracy activists were targeted by spyware known as Pegasus during the height of anti-government protests two years earlier.
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