The mobile phones of nine Bahraini activists, including two parties who are now living in London, were hacked. Individuals that were hacked, was between June 2020 and February 2021. NSO Group Spyware was used, according to researchers at Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto.

A report due to be released on Tuesday will reveal confirmed information about the hacked activists. Some of whose android sets were being monitored by Citizen Lab researchers at the time they were hacked, include three members of Waad. It is a secular left-wing political group that was suspended in 2017 amid a crackdown on peaceful dissent in Bahrain.

Nine activists from Bahrain had their iPhones hacked by advanced spyware made by the Israeli company NSO Group, the world’s most infamous hacker-for-hire firm, a cybersecurity watchdog reported on Tuesday.

Allegedly hacked were members of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and two political opponents in exile. According to Citizen Lab, at least one activist lived in London when the hack occurred. NSO Group said in a statement that it had not yet seen the report, but questioned Citizen Lab’s methods and motives. “If NSO receives reliable information related to system misuse, the company will vigorously investigate the complaint and act accordingly,” the company said.

Facebook is currently suing NSO Group in the US federal court for targeting approximately 1,400 users of WhatsApp, a highly sophisticated spyware-encrypted messaging service. This includes Bahraini users, according to Facebook. Feel free to check data sources here.