According to international media, the list given to NSO Group, an Israeli company, to hack the phones of selected individuals is from India. Governments and intelligence agencies in various countries have contacted the NSO Group to leak the phone. It is alleged that the phones of several people from India were leaked. Opposition parties announced that they would not contest the by-election. Protests are burning on the Internet against phone leaks.
What is an NSO group?
According to the Q Cyber Technologies website, the NSO Group is a technology development team that helps government agencies detect and prevent terrorism and crime. According to the website, their services are only used by government intelligence and law enforcement agencies to fight crime and terrorism. It is reported that many prominent personalities in India have been exposed to the theft of the phone. Internet experts say this is very scary. Opposition parties have stated that they will not contest the by-election, but will seek NSO’s help to monitor the opposition of their own citizens.
In an email to Forbes Magazine in 2016, it was stated that NSO Group did not operate any of its systems and was a technology company with strict controls. The company will sign a contract with the customer for data leakage. This leaked data should only be used as specified in the contract. In particular, the NSO’s position is that data should only be used to prevent and investigate crimes.
Who is part of the NSO Group?
It was founded by two Israelis – Shalev Hulio and Omri Lavi. Both are members of the company’s board of directors. Levi also founded Kymera, a company that makes ultra-secure phones for government employees. That’s why NSO Group and Camera offer similar products. According to Forbes, the Chimera and NSO offices work together.
Its other directors are citizens of the USA, UK, Germany and Israel. They include Tom Ridge, the first US Secretary of State for Homeland Security, French diplomat Gerard Arroyo, Juliette Gayem, faculty chair of the Harvard Homeland Security Program, and Daniel Reyes, former head of the International Law Department of the Israel Defense Forces.
What is Pegasus?
Pegasus is a malware developed by the NSO Group. When it is installed on the phone, all communication websites (iMessage, WhatsApp, Gmail, Viber, Facebook, Skype) are taken over by the hacker. Malware can be installed on the target phone in several ways. Take advantage of WhatsApp bugs and send virus infected links to (spear phishing) targets, such as social engineering. This is not a new malware. It has been used by NSO since at least 2016.
What can Pegasus do?
It can intercept communications sent to and from the device, including those via iMessage, WhatsApp, Gmail, Viber, Facebook, Skype, etc., remotely trigger the phone’s camera and microphone to capture activity near the phone, and use G to track the location and movements of the target.
In 2016, NSO Group used Pegasus to fix three uncorrected damages to iOS. As a result, they click iPhones with a single click on the link. These vulnerabilities were patches with iOS 9.3.5. It has been reported that Pegasus can secretly remove all a person’s data from the servers of Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft.
Who targeted Pegasus?
NSO was found to distribute spyware products in some Arab countries, Asian countries, and Mexico. This was previously reported by Toronto-based Citizen Lab and cybersecurity firm Lookout. The phones of human rights activists, politicians and journalists have been reported in at least 50 countries around the world.
English Summary: The NSO Group responded to the Pegasus project and saw us
