Pegasus Project
April 19, the former president of the Employers of Poland organization, Andrzej Malinowski, was under surveillance using Pegasus, experts from Citizen Lab determined. Malinowski in an interview with TVN24 said that according to the letter he received from researchers, the attack took place “around February 27, 2018”.
But what is Pegasus spyware?
The Pegasus system enables full and remote control over the infected phone, which ensures almost complete surveillance of its owner.
Pegasus system allows you to remotely take control of the phone and then:
– device reset; – uninstalling the application; – debugging; – registration and suspension of environmental registration; – start and stop screen recording; – taking a screenshot; – taking a photo with the front and rear cameras; – recording and pausing recording with the front and rear cameras; – starting and pausing live broadcasts.
In addition to these features, Pegasus allows tracking of the owner via the phone’s built-in GPS, insight into contacts, stored photos, and videos, as well as chats and conversations conducted via popular messengers that encrypt the content of the conversations.
Pegasus is launched remotely, no reaction from the owner is needed to infect the phone, he does not have to click on any link sent to him or even read the message sent to him.
The Pegasus Project is an international investigative journalism initiative that revealed governments’ espionage on journalists, opposition politicians, activists, business people, and others using the private Pegasus spyware developed by the Israeli technology and cyber-arms company NSO Group and it is not used on any Israeli registered number.
From the information we have received Israel blocked Ukraine from buying NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware for fear that Russian officials would be angered by the sale of the sophisticated hacking tool to a regional foe, according to people familiar with the matter. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has been critical of Israel’s decisions so far.
Meanwhile, it is said that Pegasus is used by authoritarian governments to spy on human rights activists, journalists, and lawyers worldwide, although NSO claims that it is only intended for use against criminals and terrorists.
