Spyware has been used to target journalists and representatives of Armenia’s civil society according to the findings of a wide-ranging investigation published by Access Now, a non-profit organization with a mission to defend and extend the digital civil rights of people around the world. 

Access Now writes circumstantial evidence suggests that the targeting is related to the military conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

“This is the first documented evidence of the use of Pegasus spyware in an international war context,” according to the investigation.

Pegasus is spyware developed by the Israeli cyber-arms company NSO Group that can be covertly installed on mobile phones running most versions of iOS and Android.

The investigation has identified twelve individuals whose Apple devices were targeted with Pegasus spyware at various times between October 2020 and December 2022.

These include Anna Naghdalyan, a former Armenia Foreign Ministry Spokesperson and current NGO worker, and two RFE/RL’s Armenian Service journalists, and a former Human Rights Defender of Armenia.

“The backdrop of the first cluster of civil society Pegasus infections found in Armenia is the bloody 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war with Azerbaijan, the associated peace talks in October 2020, and the November 9, 2020 ceasefire agreement that locked territorial gains for Azerbaijan,” the investigation concludes, suggesting that those critical of the Armenian government were targeted. 

Access Now concedes that it’s unaware of any technical evidence suggesting that Armenia has ever been a Pegasus user. 

“It is important to note, nonetheless, that Armenia’s government is believed to be a user of a different spyware product: Cytrox’s Predator,”