Arab News

DUBAI: An official source denied the allegations made in some press reports, regarding Saudi Arabia’s use of a program to monitor communications, Saudi state agency SPA reported on Wednesday.

The source said the allegations were unfounded, stressing that Saudi Arabia’s policy did not endorse such practices.

A global investigation published on Sunday by 17 media organisations said Pegasus spyware, licensed by Israel-based NSO Group, had been used in attempted and successful hacks of smartphones belonging to journalists, government officials and human rights activists.

NSO issued a statement on Sunday rejecting the reporting by the media partners, saying it was “full of wrong assumptions and uncorroborated theories”. Its product is intended only for use by government intelligence and law enforcement agencies to fight terrorism and crime, it said.

(With Reuters)