Galina Timchenko was hacked on or around 10 February, at a time when she was based in Berlin, Germany, marking the first time that an independent Russian journalist - whose media outlet has been targeted by Moscow and declared an "undesirable organisation" - is known to have been hacked with spyware.
The attack occurred shortly before a meeting in Berlin of the main independent Russian media in exile, in which participants including Timchenko discussed the pressure they were under and how to respond to it. It was organised by a Russian organisation called Redkollegia.
"Through me they could have eavesdropped on this meeting," the journalist told the Guardian.
Once a phone is infected with Pegasus - NSO's signature spyware the operator of the hacking software has access to a mobile's microphone, which allows the phone to be turned into a listening device.
The news raised questions about who might have been behind the attack. Researchers said they were not immediately able to identify who might have targeted Timchenko's phone but that it was hacked using Pegasus, one of the world's most sophisticated spyware tools.
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