The Pocket Assassin

Abstract

This case study explores the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the critical role that digital surveillance, specifically the Pegasus spyware, played in facilitating his murder. Khashoggi, a prominent critic of the Saudi regime, was targeted with state-sponsored surveillance despite living in exile in the United States. The spyware infected mobile devices within his close network, including his wife’s, allowing Saudi operatives to monitor his movements. Developed by Israel's NSO Group, Pegasus exemplifies a powerful and largely unregulated cyberweapon capable of extracting vast amounts of personal data through “zero-click” exploits. This case raises urgent concerns about privacy, accountability, and liberty in the digital age. It also underscores how spyware, once limited to law enforcement, has been deployed by authoritarian regimes and criminal organizations to suppress dissent, silence journalists, and violate human rights. The Khashoggi case highlights the fragility of digital privacy and the growing threat posed by commercial surveillance technologies without global regulatory safeguards.