The rise of Pegasus spyware

On 8 June, IMPAKT presents a panel session and the screening of Terror Contagion, a film by Laura Poitras and Forensic Architecture. The event explores the disturbing rise of the controversial spyware Pegasus, which was developed by the Israeli cyber-intelligence company NSO. Pegasus can be secretly installed on mobile phones to track the user’s actions and steal personal data. The film Terror Contagion portrays the experiences of human right defenders and journalists who became the target of this spyware. As one of the victims describes in the film, it feels as if someone is ‘sitting inside your mind.’ Governments worldwide, including the Dutch one, have allegedly made use of Pegasus. The European Parliament has now set up a Committee of Inquiry that is currently investigating the use of Pegasus and similar surveillance spyware for monitoring individual citizens. After the screening we will discuss the topics addressed in the film in an expert panel discussion guided by the questions: How has this new form of technological aggression become so widespread? How does it impact our future digital agency? And how can we resist it?

Speakers: Lola Conte (advanced researcher at Forensic Architecture), Jan-Jaap Oerlemans (endowed professor in Intelligence and Law at Utrecht University & senior researcher at the (Dutch) Review Committee on the Intelligence and Security Services). Other speakers tbaThe Rise of Pegasus Spyware is curated by Rosa Wevers (Utrecht University) and Niv Fux (independent curator)