Washington: Remember about Pegasus, the spy software made by the Israeli company NSO. The same Pegasus, about which there was an uproar in the whole world last year. This software was stealing and stealing important information by hacking into the phones of thousands of people. In India too, hundreds of politicians, journalists, activists, and businessmen were allegedly spied on through this software. Serious questions were also raised on the government regarding this. But the world was unaware of how this vicious Pegasus got caught. Now it has been revealed. Engineers had access to this spy software through a photo file found in the iPhone of Saudi Arabian woman Loujain al-Hathloul.
Lajoun Al-Hathlol is a big name working for women’s rights in Saudi Arabia. They have played an important role in getting women the right to drive in the country. When he was released from prison in February last year, he suspected that his iPhone had been hacked. The hacking of the iPhone was a big deal because it is considered the most secure phone in the world. Hathlol handed over his phone to Citizen Lab, a Canadian organization, to find out the matter.
According to a report by Reuters, scientists at Citizen Lab, an organization working for the rights of privacy, closely examined Hathlol’s phone for six months. They found a suspicious fake image file. This file was missed on the phone due to a mistake of spy software. This discovery of Citizen Lab researcher Will Markjack was historic. Because this Israeli spy software was so clever that it did not leave any clues, it was considered impossible to catch. But the image file found in Hathlol’s phone gave concrete evidence against Pegasus and NSO.
After this, iPhone maker Apple sued NSO in court in November 2021. One after the other revelations were being made about the victims of NSO and Pegasus in the world. Governments and government agencies of many countries were being put in the dock. After a lot of trouble, NSO had to issue a statement that it does not sell its software products to the general public but only to governments or their agencies. Although the company denied the allegations of espionage but called for an investigation into allegations of intrusion of people’s privacy through its software. The matter escalated so much that even the Israeli government had to walk away from the company.
Pegasus is considered to be zero-click spying software. Meaning it does not require any of your actions to be installed on your phone or device. It automatically enters your phone by trickery. After that, you keep on transmitting every trivial information to its owner and you do not even hear the news. Where do you go, what do you talk to on the phone, what do you message, all the information reaches the hacker. Even if you are meeting someone physically and the phone is with you, your conversation can be recorded. Even video can be recorded secretly by turning on the camera.
Pegasus is believed to be able to access WhatsApp chat, emails, SMS, GPS, photos, videos, microphone, camera, call recording, calendar, contact book, everything.
