Serbians targeted with spyware in country’s ‘largest documented wave of surveillance’

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Student Protest Movement in Serbia":"The student movement in Serbia has been a thorn in the side of the government of Aleksandar Vučić since 2024. The movement coalesced out of countrywide protests that followed the collapse of a train station that winter. The digital rights group Share Foundation reported that at least 14 people from across Serbian civil society were targeted with advanced spyware earlier this year, including members of the student movement. The timing of the attacks, during March's local elections, may have been a practice run for the upcoming October snap elections.","

NSO Group and Pegasus Spyware":"NSO Group, which makes Pegasus, a spyware that has been used by authoritarian states to target journalists, human rights campaigners, and dissidents, has been under US ownership since 2021. The Citizen Lab found that one of the victims had been targeted with Pegasus, which would have given the attacker 'total access to the device'. The Citizen Lab's analysis revealed that at least one of the Serbians had been targeted with the NSO Group's Pegasus spyware.","

Government Denial and Response":"Aleksandar Vučić's government denied the claims of spying, with parliamentary speaker Ana Brnabić stating, 'Absolutely not, I do not believe a single word they've said.' The digital rights group Share Foundation called for an investigation into the claims. The Citizen Lab's analysis and Apple's threat notifications reveal that Serbia's peaceful pro-democracy movement is being aggressively targeted with mercenary spyware ahead of key 2026 election cycles."}