The Pegasus Spyware and Its Danger to the Freedom of Press and Dissidents
Pegasus has already inflicted damage as it was recently discovered that governments had used it to spy on members of the press and even other governments including top government leadership.
‘Pegasus’ is a software developed by NSO Group, a company founded and registered in Israel. Pegasus is spyware software that is geared toward infiltrating mobile systems and smartphones in a way that has not been seen before. There was a list of fifty thousand numbers that was recently released including numbers of people whose smartphones had been spied on and infiltrated using Pegasus. According to its developers, Pegasus is only sold or licensed to governments and this licensing is for the sole purpose of supporting anti-terrorism efforts.
A Terrifying Tool by the NSO Group, An Israeli-Backed Defense Contractor
Essentially, according to NSO Group, Pegasus was developed to spy on terrorists and infiltrate or tap their communications. Pegasus is a powerful kit of spyware and in a way is a humongous threat to international security if used wrongly. One can only imagine what damage it could inflict if used on normal citizens by governments or if it falls into the hands of criminal organizations or the terrorists it was intended to spy on.
Pegasus: A Tool for Rogue Governments to Spy on Journalists and Dissenters
Pegasus has already inflicted damage as it was recently discovered that governments had used it to spy on members of the press and even other governments including top government leadership. A case in point is French President, Emmanuel Macron, whose unofficial phone had been spied on using Pegasus. Initial reports indicated that the spyware could have been deployed by the Moroccan government. Macron changed his phone and phone number and an investigation was started on whether his phone had actually been spied on using Pegasus. His phone number appeared on the list, one among tens of thousands, that were allegedly targeted by the spyware.
