Spyware Discovered on Arthur Vanetsyan's Mobile in September

Arthur Vanetsyan, the leader of the "I Have Honor" faction in the National Assembly and former head of the National Security Service (NSS), received a letter from Apple indicating that his phone was targeted by the Pegasus spyware. In a conversation with journalists today, Vanetsyan revealed that he had discovered the operation of the spyware on his mobile back in September.

"In September-October, information security specialists with international accreditation examined my phone, resulting in undeniable evidence that the infamous Pegasus software was installed on my phone. However, since we did not have confirmation from Apple and organizations dealing with human rights, I did not want to raise this issue publicly. Yesterday, upon receiving the letter, I decided to disclose this information and make it public, which we had learned about back in September," Vanetsyan stated.

He mentioned that the use of Pegasus is harmful and unacceptable. Surveillance should be the monopoly of the state, and if there are appropriate grounds based on a court decision, the state has the right to wiretap individuals.

Vanetsyan informed that the Pegasus program is not fully under the control of Armenia's special services. The NSO Group does not sell the software to a country's special services for them to carry out their functions, but rather the company subscribes to the program for a specific amount, ranging from 7 million to 10 million dollars.

"The client asks for surveillance over certain individuals in our country and gives the company the opportunity to access the mobile operators' systems without hindrance, to enter and infect any phone," he noted.

He added that the data collected is not held by Armenia's law enforcement agencies but instead stored at the company's headquarters and subsequently provided to the client. The NSO Group has stated that they cooperate with governments to obtain permission to access the mobile operators' systems in the country. "The one granting permission is a representative of the state—be it the prosecutor's office or the NSS," Vanetsyan explained.

He further clarified that a court decision is not required to use Pegasus, confirming that such surveillance is illegal. "If you have noticed, any information obtained through this program is never made public, nor is it used during the investigation of criminal cases because that information is obtained illegally, and the authorities use it exclusively to monitor and persecute journalists, human rights defenders, civil society representatives, and political figures that they are disinclined towards," Vanetsyan emphasized.

Through this program, it's possible to remotely access an individual's correspondence, photos, and videos, and to activate the camera and microphone without the owner's knowledge.