Asian Tech Press (Apr. 11) -- Senior European Commission officials were targeted last year by spy software designed by an Israeli surveillance firm, Reuters reported on Monday.

At least four other commission staffers were targeted in addition to Didier Reynders, a senior Belgian statesman who has been European justice commissioner since 2019, according to a document and people familiar with the matter.

Two EU officials close to the matter said the commission became aware of the targets after Apple sent a message to thousands of iPhone users in November warning them they were being tracked by government hackers.

Reuters reported that the recipients of the warnings were targeted between February and September 2021 using ForcedEntry, an advanced software used by Israeli cyber surveillance provider NSO Group to help foreign spy agencies remotely and covertly control Apple phones.

In a statement, NSO said it was not responsible for the hacking attempts and said the targeted attacks described by Reuters "could not have happened with NSO's tools."