Serbia: At least 14 people targeted by spyware

At least 14 people in Serbia have been targeted with advanced spyware this year, in what digital rights organisation Share Foundation describes as the largest documented wave of surveillance in the country.

The attacks came to light in August, when Apple sent notifications to users in 110 countries warning that they may have been targeted with spyware. An analysis by the interdisciplinary research laboratory Citizen Lab confirmed that at least one Serbian student had been targeted with Pegasus spyware developed by NSO Group. If successfully installed, Pegasus can give an attacker extensive access to a person’s phone. The spyware has been used by authoritarian governments to monitor and target journalists, activists and political dissidents.

Serbia’s student movement, one of the largest in Europe according to The Guardian, has played a leading role in mass anti-government protests since 2024. Share Foundation says the timing of the attacks, around the March local elections, may indicate that surveillance capabilities were being tested ahead of the early elections in October.

Citizen Lab has also uncovered the surveillance of MEP Stelios Kouloglou using Pegasus, as well as links between Predator spyware and clients in Greece.

There is, however, no evidence that Aleksandar Vučić’s government was behind the Pegasus attack. Other spyware used against students, such as NoviSpy, has previously been linked to Serbian state authorities. Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabić has strongly rejected claims that students were placed under surveillance.

Citizen Lab says the new findings point to the systematic targeting with commercial spyware of people involved in the country’s pro-democracy movement. Citizen Lab studies internet security, identifies digital threats against members of civil society and tracks the spread of the spyware industry. The laboratory has also uncovered the surveillance of MEP Stelios Kouloglou using Pegasus and linked the then-unknown Predator spyware to clients in Greece.

Sources: The Guardian, Citizen Lab [1], [2], [3]