Researchers find Pegasus spyware on Belgrade university rector's phone
Researchers said the phone of Vladan Djokic, the head of the University of Belgrade and a backer of student protests, was hacked with Pegasus spyware this year, the AP and CyberScoop reported. Serbia holds national elections on Sunday. Officials there have denied a role in past spyware attacks.
The phone of Vladan Djokic, rector of the University of Belgrade and a prominent figure in Serbia's student protest movement, was infected with Pegasus spyware this year, digital rights researchers said Monday, the Associated Press and CyberScoop reported.
The Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto said it could confirm with "high confidence" that Djokic's phone was infected with the spyware, made by Israel's NSO Group, in 2026, the AP and CyberScoop reported. The analysis was done with the Serbian digital rights group SHARE Foundation, the AP and CyberScoop reported. "The infection leveraged a zero-click exploit," meaning no click was needed, the lab's report said, according to CyberScoop. The researchers have not said who carried out the attack.
Djokic called the hacking a "serious attack on my privacy, security and the integrity of the post of rector," the AP reported. He called it "yet another attempt of intimidation designed to prevent any critical position and public action," the AP reported.
Researchers are also examining the phone of Rade Bajic, a prosecutor who worked on a corruption case tied to a canceled real estate project linked to Jared Kushner, the AP and CyberScoop reported. Bajic received an Apple threat notification in August, the AP reported. "In my opinion, my involvement in this case was the sole reason for this unlawful spyware attack," Bajic said, according to CyberScoop.
In September, digital rights groups reported that at least 14 activists and students had their phones infected with spyware, including Pegasus, the AP and CyberScoop reported.
There was no immediate comment from Serbian authorities, who have denied being behind such attacks in the past, the AP reported. President Aleksandar Vucic has claimed without evidence that the student protests are organized from abroad, the AP reported.
Serbia holds parliamentary elections on October 25, with Vucic's party seeking to extend its 14-year rule, CyberScoop and the AP reported.
What we know: Researchers confirmed Pegasus spyware on the rector's phone and are examining a prosecutor's phone.
What we don't: Who deployed the spyware, and what kind of spyware, if any, was on the prosecutor's phone.
Where outlets agree The AP and CyberScoop report that Citizen Lab and the SHARE Foundation found Pegasus spyware on rector Vladan Djokic's phone, with a prosecutor's phone still under examination.
Where they differ Researchers and Djokic describe the hacking as intimidation of a protest leader, while Serbian authorities had no immediate comment and have denied being behind such attacks in the past.