Phone hacks cost spy boss job

Madrid – Spain’s government yesterday sacked the country’s spy chief as part of a widening scandal over the hacking of the cellphones of the prime minister and Catalan separatist leaders.

The affair broke in April when Canadian cybersecurity watchdog Citizen Lab said the phones of more than 60 people linked to the Catalan separatist movement had been tapped using Pegasus spyware after a failed independence bid in 2017.

Last week, the government confirmed the phones of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Defence Minister Margarita Robles were also targeted.

Paz Esteban, the first woman to head Spain’s CNI intelligence agency, will be replaced, said Robles.