Meeting called to address Pegasus spyware lacks quorum 

Parliament

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A meeting of parliament's national security committee called on Monday to discuss the use of Pegasus spyware failed to reach the quorum requirement after committee members of the Fidesz-KDNP governing alliance stayed away, according to a report by state news wire MTI.

The committee's three opposition members said they spoke with Interior Minister Sándor Pintér, who was present at the meeting, after establishing that it lacked quorum.

At a press conference after the meeting, committee chair János Stummer (Jobbik) said he called a meeting of the body for 8 a.m. in the morning on the first day of the autumn session of parliament to initiate a fact-finding inquiry in the matter.

On Thursday, the Investigative Prosecution Office of the Capital ordered a probe on suspicion of illegal, secret collection of information with regard to the so-called Pegasus affair, based on a number of complaints.

At a weekly press briefing on the same day, Gergely Gulyás, the head of the Prime Minister's Office, called reports in the press on the improper use of surveillance involving Pegasus spyware a "fake scandal" and dismissed speculation that anybody had been monitored because of their political leanings.

As the Budapest Business Journal reported earlier, Pegasus allows the attacker to view all content on a phone, such as messages from apps with end-to-end encryption, photographs, and GPS location data. 

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