Indian journalists and activists are under an espionage attack by Israeli groups, and Whatsapp has just confirmed this.
This group targeted around 1400 Whatsapp accounts of Indian journalists and activists, using their spyware, Pegasus, and Whatsapp has already sued the Israeli group, on the grounds of espionage.
Pegasus is an extremely dangerous malware, as it also gets access to camera, text messages, and extremely crucial data of the victim. That it targeted journalists and activists of India is something to be horrified of.
How many of these 1400 were Indians? How exactly did Pegasus spy on people through Whatsapp? Find out what went down right here!
Whatsapp Confirms Indian Activists And Journalists Targets Of Surveillance; Sues Israeli Group
As much as two dozen academics, lawyers, Dalit activists and journalists in India were alerted by Whatsapp that they have been under state-of-the-art surveillance.
A Whatsapp spokesperson said, “Indian journalists and human rights activists have been the target of surveillance and while I cannot reveal their identities and the exact number, I can say that it is not an insignificant number.”
According to WhatsApp chief Will Cathcart, “at least 100 human rights defenders, journalists and other members of civil society across the world” have been the victims of this malicious attack.
Whatsapp has sued the NSO Group and Q Cyber Technologies, who have refuted all claims and allegations. The NSO Group had also been accused of its malware having a part in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Pegasus: How Does It Work
Pegasus needs to be installed on the smartphone of the target without his/her knowledge, for which the operator will require security permissions on the phone. For a Pegasus operator to be able to breach the security features and permissions on the phone, all they need to do is persuade the users to click on an ‘exploit link’ which is built specially.
After the Pegasus is successfully installed on the phone, the malware connects with the operator’s control servers and commands, who further gives the malware orders which are promptly executed.
After this, the operator has easy access to the victim’s sensitive information, including passwords, contacts, text messages, and even voice calls from mobile messaging platforms.
The infiltrator is also given access to the phone’s camera and microphone, and can capture any event or happenings going on in the surroundings of the phone.
Whats even more frightening is that the victim is not even required to click on the aforementioned exploit link. Only a missed video call on Whatsapp does the trick, and opens up the phone.
Will Indian Govt. get involved in this espionage attack, and take some action? Do let us know your views, by commenting right here.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.