RIYADH (Dispatches) – A recent report has revealed that Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been among the countries that have been extensively using the spyware Pegasus to spy on their own people and track human rights advocates. 
The report, published by Citizen Lab, said the usage of Pegasus - made by the Tel Aviv-based NSO company - in both countries had significantly increased between August 2016 and August 2018.
"Our findings paint a bleak picture of the human rights risks of NSO’s global proliferation. At least six countries with significant Pegasus operations have previously been linked to abusive use of spyware to target civil society,” the Citizen Lab said in its report, refusing to name all the countries.
Citizen Lab said it identified at least six operators with "significant operations" in the Persian Gulf region including at least two that appeared to predominantly focus on the UAE and one with a Saudi focus. One was also focused on Bahrain, it added, without elaborating whether it was affiliated to Saudi Arabia - which is helping Manama suppress dissent - or not.
"Three operators may be conducting surveillance beyond the MENA region, including in Canada, France, Greece, the United Kingdom, and the United States,” the report added.
The UAE had earlier used the phone hacking spyware to spy on several Arab figures, including the Qatari emir, Lebanese prime minister, and a Saudi prince.
A recent report has revealed that Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been among the countries that have been extensively using the spyware Pegasus to spy on their own people and track human rights advocates. 
The New York Times reported on August 31 that the NSO Group and affiliates had actively participated in cyber attacks on individuals sought by the UAE using the controversial Pegasus spyware to turn their smart phones into surveillance devices.
Two lawsuits have been filed against the company in the Israeli-occupied territories and Cyprus by a Qatari citizen as well as Mexican journalists and human rights activists who say they were targeted by the spyware.
Saudi national Yehia Assiri, one of the targets of the spyware, told the Middle East Eye recently that "governments that use these technologies have something to be scared of, and have no respect for human rights.”
Assiri also described the move as a reflection of the lies by the governments that use Israeli spy tools to monitor their citizens.
"They publicly claim their animosity toward Israel, but secretly use its products to spy on activists whom it then accuses of treason,” he said.
Pegasus is a modular malware. After scanning the target’s device, it installs the necessary modules to read the user’s messages and mail, listen to calls, capture screenshots, log pressed keys, exfiltrate browser history, contacts, and so on and so forth. Basically, it can spy on every aspect of the target’s life.
The spyware has been around for at least three years, when it was first detailed in a report over the summer of 2016.