Press Bodies Condemn Pegasus Survalliance On Journalists

“Pegasus” a name that has created a buzz all over the country in just a day. So what is this Pegasus?

Well, Pegasus is spyware available online for the governments apparently; the latest buzz is about the highly secured spyware being hacked, but some say otherwise. Considering the list of people being spied on, most have come to a conclusion that it is the Indian Government’s doing. But the Indian Government says it is not involved in the hacking scandal.

 Hackers have targeted Union ministers, opposition leaders, journalists, and other celebrities. But the highly secured Israeli spyware Pegasus is only available to governments. However, hackers have gotten their hands on the data of celebrities through this spyware.

The news came out on Sunday when ‘The Wire’ published an article about the events. According to the latest report, the hacking attack was carried out targeting celebrities from India and some other countries. Wire notes that forensic tests have shown that hacking is almost inevitable, but there are things suggesting otherwise.

 About 300 phone numbers from our country are reported to be on the list. It includes details of two Union ministers, a freshman and a former official, a prominent figure in a constitutional position, three key opposition members, the numbers of 40 journalists, members of the RSS, and other dignitaries, whose names will be revealed in the coming days, The Wire reported.

Data from figures who use Apple phones could be more easily hacked, but androids aren’t less vulnerable either.

This hacking attempt seemed to have taken place between 2018-19. Wire said the details were yet to be known. Along with Wire, international magazines such as the Washington Post also published the news.

 Although the Israeli company, the NSO Group, has denied the allegations made by the media.

NSO sells this spyware to governments for surveillance purposes only. NSO made it clear that there was no possibility of such a thing being hacked.

However, it should be noted that the numbers in the leaked database are not as hacked as they appear. Pegasus, which has access only to governments, has said it will not succumb to data hacking and will file defamation suits against news organizations that publish false articles. 

A media house in Paris is reported to have exposed this surveillance scandal through investigative journalism. Pegasus, created by the NSO Group, is considered a cyber weapon.

Facebook also filed a lawsuit in 2019 against the NSO Group over Pegasus spyware. It also alerted WhatsApp users about their privacy. Currently, Pegasus is all over the internet.

A further investigation by several English dailies has revealed that the spyware spied on several politicians, journalists, and others. Amnesty International, an international human rights NGO, recently detonated that iPhones running the latest software could be infected with the Pegasus malware with zero-click iMessages.

Amnesty International has analyzed the logs of several iPhones and revealed some scary facts. Since July 14, 2014, it seems that Pegasus spyware has targeted many Android and iPhone devices. In July 2021, the NGO confirmed that Android and iPhone devices were being spied on.

The most secure iPhones seem to use iMessage to install Pegasus software without any user action. Apple will make its next version of iOS 14.7 available to users in a few days. Amnesty International is hopeful that Apple will succeed in identifying the current bug.

News of the cyberattacks on prominent journalists, members of parliament, opposition leaders, and others with the Israeli NSO ‘Pegasus’ spyware has fixed everybody’s eyes on the Government of India. The journalists are definitely not happy about the fact that they are constantly monitored and condemned the move of the Government, but the Indian Government has denied any involvement in the hacking.

WhatsApp head Will Cathcart has lashed out at Pegasus spyware hacking. Cathcart responded to spying on prominent political leaders and journalists with NSO Pegasus malware during an investigation by the Global Media Consortium.

 He said that NSO is committing a grave human rights violation with Pegasus. He said that this spyware should be disabled immediately.

He further added that tech companies and governments should work together to increase user security and hold companies responsible for abusing users’ privacy.

But holding all accusations firm, it seems that India is a prominent user of spyware among the 50 others.

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