NEW: 🇵🇱 Poland’s National Prosecutor’s Office has found that the Pegasus spyware system used by the country’s previous government was not fully under the control of Polish security agencies, potentially allowing its Israeli manufacturer, NSO Group, to access sensitive data collected from Polish citizens. According to prosecutors, an analysis by Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW) found that NSO Group could access infrastructure used to process and store operational data. Information transmitted through the system was also leaving Polish territory. Prime Minister Donald Tusk called the findings a crime against the state and described the affair as one of the biggest scandals in Poland’s history since the fall of communism. Tusk warned that sensitive information belonging to thousands, potentially tens of thousands, of Polish citizens could have been exposed to a foreign country without adequate control. He also claimed there was no doubt that Pegasus manufacturer NSO Group cooperated with Israeli security services. Pegasus is a powerful surveillance tool capable of accessing mobile phones and extracting messages, browsing history and location data. Depending on the capabilities deployed, it can also access microphones and cameras. The spyware was purchased under the previous Law and Justice (PiS) government, which has faced allegations that it was used to monitor political opponents, journalists and other public figures. The former administration denies wrongdoing, arguing that Pegasus was necessary for national security and used with court approval. Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek said the system’s use endangered Poland’s national security. A parliamentary inquiry has also heard that judges who authorised surveillance were not fully informed about Pegasus’s capabilities.