cͨ oͦ N ᴛⷮ rͬ aͣwho are the ones conducting the investigation? Was he being investigated at all? Or was government hoping to jump a head a year of their own research by copying data in his phone. as researchers hackers developers we go the way of ancient Chinese Glassblowers....we are highly sought after...if need be exploited or stolen from ....and when you can produce no more you are blinded and hands crippled. Bc your skills and knowledge is simply too dangerous and valuable
Once they had physical access to his unlocked phone ...sopena or not we can be sure pegasus 10.0 is currently dutifully collecting every sound., text, call, request, and party in proximity. Had he done anything illegal no...the whole story is so suspect bc he is a employed researcher to confirm he's legit is easy the FBI will have a file if he has any good certifications or degrees in the field.
But yet this huge scene was made but it all points to getting physical access to his device.
run a file system checker if permissioned files are being accessed copied or removed then script some kind of defensive mechanism to stop the tampering and possibly out the party illegally accessing the device.