Pegasus Spyware Infects University of Belgrade Rector's iPhone Before Serbian Election

According to a report from Citizen Lab published on October 19, 2026, the iPhone of Vladan Đokić — rector of the University of Belgrade and a prominent supporter of Serbia's student protest movement — was infected with NSO Group's Pegasus spyware. The Citizen Lab team identified the infection in the lead-up to Serbia's snap parliamentary election scheduled for October 25, 2026. The attack vector was a zero-click exploit, meaning Đokić did not need to tap a link or click anything for the device to be compromised. Citizen Lab noted that the timing of the discovery, just days before a major election, raises concerns about potential political interference. The report adds to a growing body of evidence linking Pegasus deployments to targets associated with dissent and academic freedom. NSO Group has been previously associated with Pegasus deployments targeting journalists, activists, and government officials globally, though the company typically disputes such attributions. The specific iOS vulnerability exploited and the exact chain of the zero-click attack were not detailed in the initial report. Citizen Lab's findings rely on forensic analysis of the device and threat-intelligence patterns consistent with Pegasus activity. No independent technical validation of the exploit mechanism has been published outside the Citizen Lab assessment at the time of reporting.