Pegasus - The Spyware on your Phone
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The Pegasus spyware is a sophisticated piece of malware developed by the Israeli cyber-security firm NSOGroup. It has been used by the German government since at least 2016 to target political opponents,journalists, and activists. Pegasus is a type of malware known as a “remote access trojan” (RAT).
It is designed to be installed on a target’s device without their knowledge or consent. Once installed, it can beused to monitor the user’s activity, steal data, and even take control of the device. The German governmenthas been using Pegasus since at least 2016. In that year, it was revealed that the government had purchasedthe software from NSO Group and was using it to target political opponents and journalists. The targetsincluded members of the Green Party, journalists from Der Spiegel and Die Zeit newspapers, and activistsfrom Amnesty International.
In 2017, it was revealed that the German government had also used Pegasus to target members of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. The targets included AfD leader Frauke Petry and other prominentmembers of the party.
In 2018, it was revealed that Pegasus had been used to target members of the left-wing Die Linke party aswell as activists from Greenpeace Germany.
In 2019, it was revealed that Pegasus had been used to target members of both Die Linke and AfD parties inan effort to influence upcoming elections in Germany. Pegasus has also been used by other governmentsaround the world for similar purposes.
In 2018, it was revealed that Mexico had purchased Pegasus from NSO Group and had used it to spy onjournalists and human rights activists in an effort to suppress dissent against its policies.
In 2019, Amnesty International released a report detailing how Pegasus had been used by governments in45 countries around the world including Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates(UAE), Uzbekistan and Vietnam. The report found that these governments were using Pegasus to spy on human rights defenders including lawyers, journalists and activists who were critical of their policies or actions.
Recently, a US court ruled that NSO Group, the company behind Pegasus, was liable for hacking 1,400 WhatsApp users' devices.