At least 14 people from civil society in Serbia have been targeted with advanced spyware ahead of local elections in March, the digital rights organization SHARE Foundation announced on Wednesday.
According to the organization, this wave of infections, discovered in August after Apple notified users in 110 countries that they may have been victims of mercenary spyware, is the largest documented wave of its kind in Serbia to date.
Among the targeted individuals are members of a student movement, activists, opposition party MPs and a local councillor. At least one device was targeted with Pegasus, a spyware made by Israeli company NSO Group, while at least two devices were affected by malware similar to NoviSpy, Reuters reports.
In one case, the phone of a student activist was targeted with a “zero-click” version of Pegasus, meaning that installation required no action from the user. NoviSpy was discovered on the phone of a student whose device had been seized earlier during a police interrogation.
SHARE said the cases coincided with local elections on March 29 in 10 municipalities. The organization warned that this could be a precursor to similar actions ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for October.
Reuters was unable to determine who was behind the infection of the devices. NSO Group has said its products are sold only to governments. The Serbian government and NSO Group did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Citizen Lab researcher John Scott-Railton said the findings and Apple’s announcements show that the peaceful pro-democracy movement in Serbia is being aggressively targeted with mercenary spyware ahead of the crucial 2026 election cycles.
Apple said it sent threat notifications to targeted users in 110 countries on August 13 and has so far notified users in more than 150 countries. /Telegraph