Phone Spyware Hit European Official Who Was Investigating It

Stelios Kouloglou, a member of the European Parliament who served on a committee investigating commercial spyware, had his phone infected twice with Pegasus spyware. Researchers recently discovered these infections happened while he was actively working to investigate spyware abuses.

Pegasus is powerful surveillance software that can secretly access everything on a smartphone: messages, photos, calls, and even turn on the camera and microphone without the owner knowing. For most families, this type of targeted spyware is not an immediate concern.

Pegasus is extremely expensive and typically used by governments to spy on politicians, journalists, and activists. However, this incident shows that even people investigating these threats can become victims. It also highlights a broader truth: our phones contain our entire lives, and sophisticated tools exist to access that information.

While you likely won't face Pegasus specifically, you should still take steps to protect your phone.

1. Keep your phone's operating system updated. Install updates as soon as they're available, as they often fix security holes that spyware exploits.
2. Be extremely cautious about clicking links in text messages or emails, even from people you know. Many phone infections start with a single malicious link.
3. Restart your phone at least once a week. Some spyware can't survive a restart.
4. Watch for unusual behavior like battery draining quickly, the phone getting hot, or data usage spiking unexpectedly. Teach your family good phone security habits. Don't download apps from outside official app stores. Be skeptical of messages asking you to click urgent links. While commercial spyware like Pegasus is beyond most families' threat level, these basic protections guard against the more common threats you actually will encounter: scam texts, phishing emails, and malicious apps.