Israeli producer had access to data harvested by Poland using Pegasus spyware, say prosecutors

Oct 12, 2026 | Law, Politics

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Data harvested from mobile phones by the Polish authorities using Pegasus spyware were transmitted outside Poland and were accessible to the tool’s Israeli producer, Polish prosecutors have revealed as part of an investigation into the use of Pegasus under the former government.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk says that the case is “one of the biggest scandals in Polish history since the fall of communism”, and that it is “beyond any doubt” that the Israeli firm behind Pegasus, NSO Group, cooperates with Israeli intelligence.

Pegasus is a powerful and controversial tool that allows the extraction of large amounts of data from mobile phones without users’ knowledge. A number of countries have been found to have used it to spy on opposition figures.

In 2017, Poland, under the government of the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, purchased Pegasus from NSO. The spyware was subsequently used against hundreds of targets, including a number of PiS’s political opponents.

Among them was the head of the 2019 election campaign of Tusk’s centrist Civic Coalition (KO) party (which was then known as Civic Platform, PO). Last year, Tusk revealed that his own wife and daughter had been among those caught up in the surveillance.

PiS, however, has insisted that Pegasus was a necessary tool to fight crime and ensure national security. It says the spyware was only used with court approval against targets legitimately suspected of wrongdoing.

 

After a coalition led by Tusk took power from PiS in December 2023, it launched investigations into the use of Pegasus under the former government.

Today, the National Prosecutor’s Office released its latest findings, based on analysis by experts at the forensic research office of Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW).

The experts confirmed that Pegasus allowed the harvesting of emails, instant messaging and text messages; the content of telephone conversations, both via mobile networks and internet calls; browsing histories, calendars and contact lists; photos, videos and other files; and location data.

“Additionally, Pegasus allowed the use of the device’s built-in microphone and cameras to record audio and video in real time and take screenshots,” reports the National Prosecutor’s Office.

The ABW experts also highlighted serious concerns over management and security of the harvested data, noting that Poland’s Central Anti-Corruption Bureau (CBA), which was responsible for using the spyware, “did not have full control over the Pegasus system”.

“The CBA did not have passwords to access some accounts with administrative privileges and some system components remained under the control of the manufacturer [NSO],” wrote the prosecutor’s office. “The server module responsible for infecting mobile devices remained under the manufacturer’s exclusive control.”

Data transmitted through the Pegasus system travelled outside Polish territory, through “servers located in various parts of the world”, in a network managed by NSO and “beyond the CBA’s control”, found the experts.

Meanwhile, NSO “had technical access to materials from operational surveillance”, although prosecutors say that the experts “did not determine whether the manufacturer actually obtained access to materials from specific operations”.

In a video commenting on the latest findings, Tusk said that the investigation into Pegasus was “coming to a head”. He called it “one of the biggest scandals in Polish history after the fall of communism”.

The former PIS authorities signed a contract for a spyware system “over which they de facto had no control, because control remained in the hands of Israel and an Israeli company…whose cooperation with Israeli intelligence is, of course, beyond doubt”, said the prime minister.

“They paid money for a system that de facto transferred all possible data on Polish citizens, Polish opposition leaders and Polish independent prosecutors…to the Israeli side,” he added. “This is no longer [just] a scandal…We’re talking about a crime against the state.”

Later on Monday, a separate parliamentary committee set up by the ruling coalition to investigate the use of Pegasus also revealed unclassified sections of a report on its findings.

In addition to the information released by prosecutors, the commission also said that the CBA had never obtained the required IT security accreditation for Pegasus, meaning that it was used without meeting requirements for protecting classified information.

The commission’s chairwoman, Magdalena Sroka, also said that courts granting authorisation for the use of Pegasus were not informed of its full capabilities, such as the ability to access the entire contents of phones, reports broadcaster RMF.

Legal proceedings are already underway against a number of former officials in relation to Pegasus. In February, prosecutors charged the former heads of the AWB and Military Counterintelligence Service (SKW) with abuse of power for approving the use of Pegasus despite being aware of legal shortcomings.

Previously, the former head of the CBA was charged with the same offence, while one of his deputies was charged with unlawfully disclosing material from surveillance of Roman Giertych, an MP from Tusk’s KO party who has also worked as a lawyer for Tusk and his family.

Last year, a former deputy justice minister from the PiS government, Michał Woś, was indicted to stand trial over his role in the alleged illegal use of justice ministry funds to help the CBA purchase Pegasus.


Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

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