Pegasus Spyware: Is Your Phone Really Safe From Hacking?

Back in 2019, Pegasus Developed by the Israeli company NSO, spyware has become a global headline as it was used by some governments to snoop on human rights activists and journalists.

Now, in summary of the same story, along with Amnesty International and the Paris-based nonprofit Forbidden Stories, a global survey by Clutch of 17 media organizations is for Pegasus to extract messages and information from telephones. Journalists, politicians and activists in many countries, including India, claimed to have been used.

In addition, Pegasus is claimed to infect Android devices and iPhones and allow operators (in this case the government) access to messages, photos, and emails. You can also record calls and secretly activate the microphone.

Why are spyware like Pegasus made in the first place?

The Government of India has flatly denied allegations that no authorized interception by government agencies has taken place. The latest revelation politics will undoubtedly unfold in the coming weeks and even months, as there are more installments in the promised leak.

There is no doubt that the scandal will be named Pegasus Gate encourages you to ask the basic question again: Is your phone really safe?

In 2019, Facebook-owned WhatsApp confirmed that approximately 1,400 users in 20 countries were targeted by Pegasus. As a reminder, WattsApp provides end-to-end encryption. But the fact is that we are faced with sophisticated spyware like Pegasus, and none of our personal communications are really secure.

Therefore, they are not so secure to answer the question of how secure our phones are. Perhaps many of you know or understand this from a broader perspective.

But the fact that spyware like Pegaus is expensive can give some comfort, and the Israeli company has become a “scrutinized legitimate government agency” to fight “serious crime and terrorism.” Say to sell it. In any case, it is not the NSO that orders monitoring.

It’s true that sophisticated software like Pegasus is really needed to take on the frustrations of terrorists and underworld operators. The government and its detectives need technology to intercept messages for legitimate law and order.

However, the safety and sensitivity of all weapons depends on who handles them. And unfortunately, some people who have access to such tech snooping tools may use them for self-service purposes.

How is Pegasus “infecting” the phone?Missed call may be enough

Spyware is essentially software that secretly monitors and collects information about online activity, data on your device, and various personal information.

The worrying news is that spyware installed on the phone can troll calls, text and other data. It can activate the phone’s camera and microphone and perform all other malicious activities.

Now, the bigger concern is that it doesn’t take long to “infect” a phone with spyware like Pegasus. For example, you need a WhatsApp call. And for everything you care about, you didn’t even have to answer it.

Technically, a voice call sent to the target / victim modifies the data packet. This overflows the WhatsApp application’s internal buffer, overwriting some of its memory and bypassing the security of the application. Since then, it’s easy to get control of the phone and its data.

Investigators claim that the “authoritarian government” is known to create fake Whatsapp accounts to make video calls to targets. The hacker sent malicious code and automatically installed spyware on the phone even if the target did not answer the phone.

According to experts, the only way to completely free your phone from spyware like Pegasus is to dispose of it. Even a “factory reset” may not be enough to protect your phone.

In this case, the benefit of salvation is that Pegasus was not used to target the general public. Obviously, only journalists, human rights activists, and so-called government dissident groups have been sacrificed.

But as the general public, you can’t afford to be complacent. You should always be vigilant and adhere to secure technical protocols (keep all apps up to date, keep away from suspicious sites and links, and avoid answering calls from unknown numbers).