{
  "id": 158,
  "slug": "2018-saudi-arabia-pegasus-khashoggi-associate",
  "title": "Saudi Arabia: spyware on an associate's phone precedes Jamal Khashoggi's killing by one day",
  "occurred_on": "2018-10-01",
  "occurred_on_precision": "day",
  "ended_on": null,
  "jurisdiction": "SA",
  "country": "SA",
  "continent": "asia",
  "level": "national",
  "type": null,
  "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas",
  "leader_slug": "king-salman",
  "issue_of_the_day": "Abdulaziz and Khashoggi had been collaborating on plans for a news and human rights website, and Khashoggi was, according to Abdulaziz, sharply critical of the Saudi crown prince in their private conversations.",
  "outcome": "unknown",
  "outcome_on": "2018-10-01",
  "outcome_note": "Citizen Lab's finding on the spyware operation itself was not followed, in the source reviewed, by any reported Saudi accountability measure.",
  "granularity": "granular",
  "era": "2010s",
  "summary": "Citizen Lab found Pegasus spyware on the phone of Saudi dissident Omar Abdulaziz, a close associate and collaborator of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, one day before Saudi operatives killed Khashoggi inside the country's Istanbul consulate.{c:528}{c:621}{c:622}",
  "what_happened": "On October 1, 2018, the Canadian digital rights research group Citizen Lab published forensic analysis finding, with a high degree of confidence, that Saudi dissident Omar Abdulaziz's phone had been successfully infected with Pegasus spyware made by Israel's NSO Group, in an operation linked to Saudi government operators. Abdulaziz was a close associate of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and the two had been collaborating on plans for a news and human rights website; Abdulaziz said Khashoggi had been sharply critical of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in their private conversations, including through encrypted messages that the spyware would have exposed. The day after Citizen Lab published its findings, on October 2, 2018, Saudi operatives killed Khashoggi inside the country's consulate in Istanbul. Abdulaziz has said he cannot definitively link the spyware operation against his own phone to Khashoggi's killing, but the timing raised serious questions about how Saudi authorities may have learned of Khashoggi's private communications and views before his death.{c:528}{c:621}{c:622}\n\nNo public accountability measure for the spyware operation against Abdulaziz's phone is reported in the source reviewed.{c:528}{c:621}{c:622}",
  "stated_justification": "Not stated in the sources reviewed; no Saudi government justification for the spyware operation against Abdulaziz's phone is quoted in the source.{c:528}{c:621}{c:622}",
  "effect_on_reporting": "Surveillance of a journalist's close collaborator exposed private communications and views the journalist believed were confidential, one day before he was killed inside his own country's consulate.{c:528}",
  "unknowns": "The source reviewed states Abdulaziz cannot definitively link the spyware operation to Khashoggi's killing, and does not establish that link independently.",
  "status": "in_effect",
  "status_updated_on": "2026-09-22",
  "external_ids": {},
  "illustration_key": null,
  "pub_state": "published",
  "published_at": "2026-09-23T01:17:51Z",
  "reviewed_on": "2026-09-22",
  "next_review_on": "2026-12-22",
  "revision": 9,
  "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:17:46Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-09-23T02:21:24Z",
  "stage": "punish",
  "ladder_note": "A journalist's close collaborator was covertly surveilled one day before the journalist himself was killed inside his own country's consulate.",
  "country_name": "Saudi Arabia",
  "tactics": [
    "surveillance_and_subpoenas"
  ],
  "leader": {
    "slug": "king-salman",
    "name": "Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud",
    "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/king-salman"
  },
  "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-saudi-arabia-pegasus-khashoggi-associate",
  "page_meta": {
    "published": "2026-09-23T01:17:51Z",
    "reviewed": "2026-09-22",
    "sources": 3,
    "status": "in_effect",
    "statusAsOf": "2026-09-22",
    "unknowns": "The source reviewed states Abdulaziz cannot definitively link the spyware operation to Khashoggi's killing, and does not establish that link independently."
  },
  "actors": [
    {
      "slug": "king-salman",
      "name": "Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud",
      "kind": "person",
      "role": "other",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/king-salman"
    }
  ],
  "outlets": [],
  "journalists": [
    {
      "slug": "jamal-khashoggi",
      "name": "Jamal Khashoggi",
      "outlet": "washington-post",
      "relation": "affected",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/journalists/jamal-khashoggi"
    },
    {
      "slug": "omar-abdulaziz",
      "name": "Omar Abdulaziz",
      "outlet": null,
      "relation": "affected",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/journalists/omar-abdulaziz"
    }
  ],
  "cases": [],
  "related": [],
  "events": [],
  "claims": [
    {
      "id": 528,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 158,
      "field": "effect_on_reporting",
      "value": "killing follows one day later",
      "statement": "Saudi operatives killed Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul one day after Citizen Lab published its findings on the spyware attack against his associate.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 371,
      "evidence_quote": "Saudi operatives murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul",
      "evidence_date": "2018-10-31",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:17:49Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 371,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2018/10/how-the-saudis-may-have-spied-on-jamal-khashoggi/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2018/10/how-the-saudis-may-have-spied-on-jamal-khashoggi/",
        "title": "How the Saudis may have spied on Jamal Khashoggi",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2018-10-31",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/528"
    },
    {
      "id": 621,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 158,
      "field": "action",
      "value": "Citizen Lab finding, October 1, 2018",
      "statement": "Citizen Lab found with a high degree of confidence that Abdulaziz had been targeted with Pegasus spyware linked to Saudi operators.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 371,
      "evidence_quote": "with a high degree of confidence",
      "evidence_date": "2018-10-31",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:33:11Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 371,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2018/10/how-the-saudis-may-have-spied-on-jamal-khashoggi/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2018/10/how-the-saudis-may-have-spied-on-jamal-khashoggi/",
        "title": "How the Saudis may have spied on Jamal Khashoggi",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2018-10-31",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/621"
    },
    {
      "id": 622,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 158,
      "field": "scope_of_action",
      "value": "collaboration with Khashoggi",
      "statement": "Abdulaziz and Khashoggi were collaborating on plans for a news and human rights website.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 371,
      "evidence_quote": "plans for a news and human rights website",
      "evidence_date": "2018-10-31",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-23T01:33:11Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 371,
        "url": "https://cpj.org/2018/10/how-the-saudis-may-have-spied-on-jamal-khashoggi/",
        "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2018/10/how-the-saudis-may-have-spied-on-jamal-khashoggi/",
        "title": "How the Saudis may have spied on Jamal Khashoggi",
        "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
        "published_on": "2018-10-31",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/622"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": 371,
      "url": "https://cpj.org/2018/10/how-the-saudis-may-have-spied-on-jamal-khashoggi/",
      "final_url": "https://cpj.org/2018/10/how-the-saudis-may-have-spied-on-jamal-khashoggi/",
      "title": "How the Saudis may have spied on Jamal Khashoggi",
      "publisher": "Committee to Protect Journalists",
      "published_on": "2018-10-31",
      "link_state": "live",
      "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
      "wayback_url": null,
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    },
    {
      "id": 447,
      "url": "https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/18/nso-spyware-used-to-target-family-of-jamal-khashoggi-leaked-data-shows-saudis-pegasus",
      "final_url": "https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/18/nso-spyware-used-to-target-family-of-jamal-khashoggi-leaked-data-shows-saudis-pegasus",
      "title": "Saudis behind NSO spyware attack on Jamal Khashoggi's family",
      "publisher": "The Guardian",
      "published_on": "2021-07-18",
      "link_state": "live",
      "link_state_since": "2026-09-23T02:35:35Z",
      "wayback_url": null,
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    },
    {
      "id": 444,
      "url": "https://www.ap.org/media-center/ap-in-the-news/2021/probe-journalists-activists-among-firms-spyware-targets/",
      "final_url": "https://www.ap.org/media-center/ap-in-the-news/2021/probe-journalists-activists-among-firms-spyware-targets/",
      "title": "Probe: Journalists, activists among firm's spyware targets",
      "publisher": "Associated Press",
      "published_on": "2021-07-18",
      "link_state": "live",
      "link_state_since": "2026-09-23T02:35:35Z",
      "wayback_url": null,
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    }
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  "revisions_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-saudi-arabia-pegasus-khashoggi-associate/revisions",
  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  },
  "cite_as": "Saudi Arabia: spyware on an associate's phone precedes Jamal Khashoggi's killing by one day. The War On News, thewaronnews.com. https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2018-saudi-arabia-pegasus-khashoggi-associate. Retrieved 2026-09-23."
}