As reported earlier by The Wire, around 40 Indian Journalists along with several politicians have appeared on a leaked list of potential targets for surveillance and forensic tests have confirmed that some of them have been successfully snooped up by Pegasus spyware.
The leaked data includes the numbers of top correspondents and writers of various news outlets such as Hindustan Times, India Today, Network 18, The Hindu and Indian Express.
What is Pegasus?
It is a spyware which was created by an Israeli Group, NSO. It was developed to help the government fight against crime. "It is intended to develop best-in-class technology to help government agencies detect and prevent terrorism and crime" had said the NSO.
Pegasus can enter the phone through many ways with the simplest way being through a missed WhatsApp call. The other way is when a user click on a broken or an infected link.
It can also find its way through wireless links and zero-click.
Once Pegasus finds its way in, it can operate with all possible permissions. It can track your call logs, monitor them, access your camera to record video. It can also read your browsing history and collect information on your in-app activities. It can even use the GPS system to track your current location.
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