Polish Prime Minister Tusk: Transferring sensitive data to Israel via spyware is a crime against the state

In his video message shared from the social media platform account of US-based company X, Tusk stated that Pegasus is a tool developed by an Israeli company that provides comprehensive cyber surveillance.

Stating that there is no doubt that the Israel-based NSO Group, which developed Pegasus, cooperated with Israeli intelligence services, Tusk described the incident as "one of the biggest scandals in Polish history after the fall of communism."

Donald Tusk stated that the money that was supposed to be given to crime victims was used to purchase Pegasus and said:

"They paid money that should have been given to victims of crime in Poland, for a system that transferred to the Israeli side all possible data on Polish citizens, Polish opposition leaders and independent Polish prosecutors. The Polish side had virtually no control over this.

People responsible for justice and the security of the state handed over the sensitive data of thousands, tens of thousands of Polish citizens, into the hands of a foreign state, Israel, without any control. This is no longer a scandal. Actually, I think it is clear to everyone that; We are talking about a serious crime against the state here. "They will pay for this."

Experts determined that the data transferred through the system went out of Poland

A written statement was made by the Polish National Prosecutor's Office regarding the latest findings obtained within the scope of the investigation that has been ongoing since March 2024.

In the statement, it was stated that Polish Internal Security Agency (ABW) experts determined that the Pegasus system was able to obtain extensive data from mobile devices without users' knowledge and permission.

It was emphasized that the experts found that the Polish Central Anti-Corruption Bureau (CBA) did not have full control over the system, that the software developer had access to the infrastructure where the data was processed and stored, and that the data transferred through the system went outside Poland.

In the statement, it was noted that the design of the system does not guarantee the complete security of the data obtained.

⁠⁠Pegasus accusation in Poland

In the new parliament that took office in Poland after the elections in October 2023, a special commission was established to investigate allegations that the Pegasus spyware was used by previous government officials.

At a press conference with then-President Andrzej Duda in February 2024, Prime Minister Donald Tusk accused government officials during his predecessor, Morawiecki, of illegally using the "Pegasus" spyware.