Govt rejects Amnesty International claim about use of Israeli spyware in Pakistan
The government of Pakistan on Thursday strongly rejected claims made by Amnesty International that spyware developed by an Israeli company was being used inside the country, calling the allegations “baseless” and a deliberate attempt to malign Pakistan. According to a senior intelligence official — speaking on condition of anonymity — “there is not an iota of truth” in the report.
The claims stem from an investigation titled Intellexa Leaks, published by Amnesty International in collaboration with media partners in Greece, Israel, and Switzerland. The report centres on a human-rights lawyer from Balochistan who reportedly received a suspicious link via WhatsApp in mid-2025. Amnesty’s Security Lab said the link matched the behavioural pattern of infections carried out by Predator spyware — a highly invasive tool developed by the Israeli firm Intellexa. The spyware is alleged to enable a broad intrusion: gaining access to encrypted messaging apps (like WhatsApp or Signal), emails, call logs, device location, microphone, camera — in short: full remote control of a target’s device. The Intellexa leaks also claim a more advanced infection vector, called “Aladdin”, capable of infecting devices through mobile-advertising frameworks, potentially without any user interaction.
In response, Pakistani security sources said the report was “misleading” and “an attempt to malign Pakistan.” They dismissed the claim outright, rejecting the evidence as unverified and stressing that the government does not use such spyware.
The episode underscores growing global concern over surveillance technologies and the ethics of spyware deployment. Amnesty’s findings point to a trend in which spyware firms — often operating in a legal grey zone — sell powerful surveillance tools to governments, which can end up used against lawyers, journalists or human-rights defenders. For Pakistan, the allegations trigger debate about privacy, digital rights, transparency of security agencies, and the state’s accountability.
As of now, no independent verification has emerged to confirm use of Predator or any Israeli spyware in Pakistan. Government officials say there is no proof. Meanwhile the investigation published by Amnesty continues to stir discussion among civil-society groups, media observers and data-privacy advocates.
As the situation develops, watchers say it will be important to demand transparency — whether through independent audits, regulatory oversight, or judicial scrutiny — to ensure that allegations of illicit surveillance are either validated or dismissed with clarity.
