Pegasus, a highly sophisticated Israeli spyware, recently came back in news after reports suggested that many Indian WhatsApp users have been affected by it. Given the wide user base of this popular Facebook owned messaging app, its users are apprehensive.
Here is all you need to know about the issue and how to not become a victim.
Pegasus gained notoriety after reports surfaced that it was used to track Saudi-American journalist Jamal Khashoggi who was murdered subsequently.
A recent notification from WhatsApp suggests that this notorious spyware was used to snoop on journalists, activists, lawyers and senior government officials in 20 countries across the world including India in May this year. WhatsApp also said that it has contacted several Indian users who are believed to be the targets of illegal snooping by this spyware.
Reports suggest that Facebook has sued makers of Pegasus spyware NSO Group for a hefty sum for allegedly breaching its servers.
What is Pegasus?
The Citizen Lab at University of Toronto which helped WhatsApp with the investigation says Pegasus is the flagship spyware of Israeli NSO Group. This spyware is also known as Q Suite and Trident. This spyware has the ability to infiltrate both Android and iOS devices in a number of ways including zero-day exploits – which means the security flaws get misused on the day of discovery itself.
This spyware has been around for at least three years and it was also believed to have been used to target Indians earlier as well.
How does Pegasus infect target devices?
Pegasus is said to have used a vulnerability in WhatsApp VoIP system that is used to place video and audio calls. Just a missed call on WhatsApp allows Pegasus to gain access to the target’s mobile phone. That said, The Citizen Lab notes that Pegasus has used other ways in the past as well to infiltrate the devices. At times, the victims are lured to click on a link using social engineering or using fake package notifications to deploy the spyware.
What does Pegasus do?
This versatile piece of spyware starts contacting control servers, which can then relay commands to gather data from the infected device as soon as it gets installed. It can steal information like passwords, contacts, text messages, calendar details, and even the voice calls made using messaging apps. Besides, Pegasus can also snoop using the phone’s camera and microphone as well. Further, it is capable of using the GPS to track live location of the victim.
Who was hacked using Pegasus in India?
The exact details of who and how many people were hacked in India using Pegasus through WhatsApp is not clear. That said, WhatsApp confirmed that Indian users were among those contacted by the company this week over the May cyber-attack. The company claims to have directly messaged 1400 users over the incident.
How to avoid falling victim to Pegasus?
WhatsApp recommends its users to update the app as soon as one is available to steer clear of any security threats including Pegasus.