UK Downing Street Becomes Target to UAE-Operated Pegasus

Over the years, the United Arab Emirates’ involvement in a number of illicit acts of spying has emerged. From being assisted by former US intelligence officers for hacking to creating their own cybersecurity firm, the Emirates has gradually moved towards more sophisticated ways of espionage. Its surveillance activities have only advanced and, currently, the most reliable spyware for the Gulf nation remains Israel’s Pegasus software.

Multiple evidence-based reports have revealed the names of several people who were targeted and hacked by the UAE. Recently, a report by the Citizen Lab revealed that the UK’s Downing Street office was also targeted using the Israeli spyware. Security researchers confirmed that the attack on July 7, 2020, was linked to a UAE-based operative. It was also claimed that attack might have compromised the phone of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

The research also revealed that operatives linked to the UK-allies, including the UAE, also targeted the Foreign Office phones. At least five such attacks were identified to have taken place between July 2020 and June 2021. “When we found the No 10 case, my jaw dropped,” said John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at the Citizen Lab.

The UK government was warned by the Citizen Lab that it had detected “multiple suspected instances of Pegasus spyware infections” at the departments. Days after the researchers revealed about the hack at Downing Street, it was revealed that the Emirates also attempted to “influence” the British ministers to “mislead” the UK public about some crucial international affairs.

A sacked bodyguard to the former ambassador Sulaiman Almazroui, Lee Hurford claimed that the UAE targeted Conservative politicians like Ben Wallace and Gavin Williamson; the former and current defence secretaries; the military veterans minister Leo Docherty; and the former minister for the Middle East Alistair Burt.

Hurford’s statement also stated that a company was “paid” by the UAE to “monitor” Jeremy Corbyn, the former leader of the opposition. His claims were based on the “overheard conversations in meetings” while he was a close protection officer until 2018.

Such act of the Emirates against the UK reveal how it has been betraying the British alliance. In the past, the UAE has detained and tortured a British academic Matthew Hedges on suspicion that he was a spying agent for the UK intelligence. However, the Arab nation itself has been involved in surveillance of the top level British officials.