World over, many Spywares are being used to gather information about people or companies and send it to another company to harm the original user. Pegasus is one of the most recent spyware which is used for hacking and is developed, marketed and licensed to Governments around the world by Israeli company NSO Group.
Let us answer the question: what is Pegasus Spyware?
Pegasus was discovered in 2016 and is the spyware developed by the Israeli cyber-arms firm NSO Group that can be secretly installed on mobile phones running on iOS and Android. It has a robust quality of reading text messages, tracking calls, collecting passwords, location tracking, accessing the target’s microphone & camera and extracting the information from the apps running in the mobile phone.
Why it has been named Pegasus Spyware?
This malicious spyware has been named Pegasus based on a fictitious Trojan horse that used to fly through the air. This spyware hacks the information and sends it flying through the air.
Who discovered Pegasus and the plot behind Pegasus?
Pegasus targeting of iOS had been discovered in August 2016 by Arab Human Rights defender Ahmed Mansoor who got the spyware encrypted in a text message which promised to show him secrets about torture happening in UAE prisons. He sent the text message for an investigation to Citizen Lab. Citizen Lab, in collaboration with Lookout (a private security company in San Francisco, California), confirmed the dangers the spyware would have caused to his iPhone and taking out vital information. Citizen Lab linked the plot to NSO Group in Israel.
Since then, it was confirmed UAE has been using this spyware since 2013 and various lawsuits have been filed against NSO for the unauthorized surveillance of the activities of Individuals and Organizations.
Let us see who is using the Pegasus Spyware?
As per the initial reports coming in Pegasus Spyware was to be used against criminals and terrorists which should have been duly authorized by the Governments. But various reports of Governments using the same on critics and oppositions have been frequently reported.
Usage of Pegasus Software in India
Records have indicated that phone numbers of various political leaders present at National Level Opposition Parties have filed complaints about a suspected presence of Pegasus Software on their mobiles phones. There has been unconfirmed news of phone numbers of Indian ministers, Journalists were found on the NSO Project Pegasus hacking database.
Indian Government tried to use Pegasus to spy on top Pakistani Political leaders and diplomats from Iran, Afghanistan, China and Saudi Arabia.
Usage of Pegasus in Mexico
The Mexican Government has used Pegasus spyware to target the drug cartels and various officials present in the government who used to pass information to drug cartels.
Usage of Pegasus Spyware by Saudi Arabia
The most prolific use of Pegasus Spyware by the Government of Saudi Arabia was on the CEO of a multi-billion dollar US Multi-National firm. UAE has been using it against Human Rights Activists who have brought dishonour to Islam religion and may have tried to leak information about atrocities committed in Arab prisons.
How does NSO, Israel defends the Pegasus Spyware?
Israel’s Defense Ministry has been regulating the NSO and checks on the licenses granted for surveillance technology provided to new countries. NSO says its clients have been breaching the contracts made with the company. NSO has published the portions of contracts that state this technology should only be used in criminal and national security investigations.
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