According to several reports from Reuters and the Washington Post, Apple has told several U.S. Embassy and State Department officials that their iPhone may have been targeted by an unknown attacker using state-sponsored spyware created by the controversial Israeli company NSO Group – Pegasus Spyware.

At least 11 U.S. Embassy officials stationed in Uganda or dealing with issues about the country have reportedly opted to use iPhones registered to their phone numbers overseas, although the identity of the threat behind the intrusions or the nature of the information requested remains unknown.

The attacks in recent months are the first time sophisticated surveillance software has been used against US government officials.

NSO Group is the creator of Pegasus, military-grade spyware that allows government clients to stealthily loot files and photos, eavesdrop on conversations, and track the whereabouts of their victims.

Pegasus Spyware uses contactless exploits sent through messaging apps to infect iPhones and Android devices without forcing targets to click links or take any other action, but by default, it is banned from accessing US phone numbers.

Responding to reports, NSO Group said it was investigating the case and, if necessary, suing clients for illegal use of its tools, adding that it had suspended “affected accounts” citing “the seriousness of the charges”.

It should be noted that the company has long argued that it sells its products to government law enforcement and intelligence agencies only to help track security threats and control terrorists and criminals. But evidence gathered over the years has highlighted the systematic abuse of this technology to spy on human rights defenders, journalists and politicians in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Morocco, Mexico and other countries.

The NSO Group’s actions have taken their toll on it, putting it on the radar of the US Department of Commerce, which placed the company on an economic lockdown last month, which may have been caused by targeting the aforementioned foreign American diplomats.

In addition, tech giants Apple and Meta have since launched a legal attack on the company for illegally hacking into its users, exploiting previously unknown security holes in iOS and WhatsApp’s continuous message encryption service. Apple also said it has begun sending out threat notifications to alert users it says have been targeted by government-sponsored attackers on Nov.23.

To that end, affected users will be sent email and iMessage notifications to addresses and phone numbers associated with users’ Apple IDs, and a prominent Threat Alert banner will be displayed at the top of the page when affected users subscribe. to their accounts at appleid.apple [.] com.

“Government-funded players like the NSO Group are spending millions of dollars on sophisticated surveillance technologies without effective accountability,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s head of software development. “This has to change.”

The disclosure also coincides with a Wall Street Journal report detailing the US government’s plan to work with more than 100 countries to restrict the export of surveillance software to authoritarian governments that use the technology to suppress human rights. China and Russia should not be involved in the new initiative.

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Computer technology has always been touted as a valuable asset in the modern world, so much so that it is said that the next world war may be based on cyberwar. In support of this prediction, there have been reports that several governments around the world are illegally tracking down prominent politicians and journalists using malware from the Israeli NSO group Pegasus.

What is Pegasus Spyware?

Named after the mythical creature, Pegasus spyware – a program used to remotely monitor a target – was created by NSO Group Technologies, based near Tel Aviv. Historically, Pegasus has played an important role in several international incidents, from the capture of a Mexican drug lord to the leaked texts of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on WhatsApp.

He was recently criticized again after a report said thousands of famous people around the world may have been victims of this spyware.

How does Pegasus Spyware work?

Over the years, Pegasus has used various methods to successfully infect a device. Previously, he used a technique called spear phishing, which involves sending a malicious link to the target. As soon as the link was clicked, Pegasus gained access to the device, and within a few hours, the phone data was transferred to the attacker.

However, nowadays, smartphone security has become more reliable; spyware is now based on an improved version of the “contactless attack”. In this case, an attacker can infect the target device without waiting for a response from a potential victim.

Thus, Pegasus no longer has to wait for a link to be clicked, spyware can easily infect the phone with something as simple as a WhatsApp call.

Who is spying?

The creator of Pegasus, NSO Group, works closely with the Israeli government; Obviously, the latter makes the most of the Pegasus’ observation capabilities.

However, other potential clients have not been left out as the company shares technology with a select group of governments around the world. These foreign clients include India, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Morocco, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Who is the target?

While it is impossible to accurately gauge the extent to which a government chooses to use Pegasus, this spyware tends to target journalists — primarily those who pose a problem to the government.

One such incident, in which Pegasus was allegedly used by the government, occurred when Saudi journalist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi was killed in 2018.

Who is working to stop Pegasus Spyware?

The nonprofit Forbidden Stories, human rights organization Amnesty International and a global network of 80 journalists from 17 media groups have come together to investigate how governments are using Pegasus to illegally spy on interested people.

The investigation is called Project Pegasus. In his latest report, he revealed that he has access to a database of 50,000 phone numbers belonging to people whose phones can be infected with spyware.

What is the position of the Indian government?

As the reports claimed the Indian government is one of the NSO Group’s foreign clients for Pegasus. A list of potential targets, including the phone numbers of over 40 Indian journalists from various media outlets, was leaked. In addition, forensic experts have already confirmed the Pegasus attack on at least 10 of the listed phone numbers.

The above allegations have been refuted by the Indian government and the NSO group. While the Indian government has assured that “a commitment to free speech as a fundamental right is the cornerstone of India’s democratic system,” the Israeli technology company simply denied that the report had anything to do with it.

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