Pegasus is a spyware that is specifically designed to spy and mine the details from cell phones whether it is android or iPhone.
This software is created by Israel based technology firm called NSO Group, and this company is known for selling its products to Governments around the world since 2010.
If this Pegasus spyware enters a smartphone, it can record phone calls, extract chats, photos, emails, location data, listen to the phone’s mic and use the camera without the knowledge of the owner.
Pegasus Project on the other hand is a joint investigative operation by global media organizations that tries to uncover details about this scandal via a leaked list that contains phone numbers of people who could have been possibly spied upon by some entities across the globe.
Forbidden stories, a Paris-based nonprofit media organization, and Amnesty International had access to this list initially and shared it with media partners. The media organizations have started making journalistic investigations, which is now called Pegasus Project. The Guardian mentioned that more than 80 journalists around the world have worked together over several months as part of the project.
The phones of Human Rights Activists, Journalists and lawyers around the world are reported to have been spied upon by NSO Group for its clients (Governments) Data leak contains list of 50,000+ phone numbers but whether the mobile phones that had these numbers were infected with this spyware or not is yet to be validated.
So far 67 smartphones of possible infection by the spyware were examined. 23 of them showed successful infection while 14 have shown signs of attempt. The tests are going on. Amnesty’s technical partner – Security Lab made the forensic analysis.
10 international Governments are believed to have been clients of NSO Group, and used its spyware to deploy this attack on select people/targets, and India is one such client. This hacking of info has been going on since 2016.
Phone numbers of more than 180 journos and executives around the world, belonging to organizations like Financial Times, CNN, The New York Times, Reuters, Associated Press, and other nation’s journos and executives, India’s Hindustan Times, The Hindu, The Wire, Indian Express, News18, India Today, Pioneer, besides freelancers, columnists and regional media, along with politicians of the opposing side have been listed in the possible list of victims.
“Phones of two serving union ministers, three opposition leaders, one constitutional authority, current and former heads of security organizations, administrators and 40 senior journalists and activists from India were allegedly bugged using an Israeli spy software called Pegasus and put on surveillance”, leading digital news platform The Print reported on Sunday.
India has denied that it used Pegasus to spy on the alleged persons on the list. NSO GROUP called the allegations “Misleading”, “Wrong assumptions”, ”False accusation” etc., and it is even considering filing a defamation lawsuit.
It said “we would like to emphasize that NSO sells its technologies solely to law enforcement and intelligence agencies of vetted governments for the sole purpose of saving lives through preventing crimes and terror acts. NSO does not operate the system and has visibility to the data”