{"id":302360,"date":"2021-07-19T09:57:01","date_gmt":"2021-07-19T06:57:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/what-we-know-about-new-investigations-into-pegasus-the-spyware-targeting-journalists\/"},"modified":"2021-07-19T09:57:01","modified_gmt":"2021-07-19T06:57:01","slug":"what-we-know-about-new-investigations-into-pegasus-the-spyware-targeting-journalists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-we-know-about-new-investigations-into-pegasus-the-spyware-targeting-journalists\/","title":{"rendered":"#What we know about new investigations into Pegasus, the spyware targeting journalists"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3bf2f0c2af1\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3bf2f0c2af1\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-we-know-about-new-investigations-into-pegasus-the-spyware-targeting-journalists\/#What_is_Pegasus\" >What is Pegasus?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-we-know-about-new-investigations-into-pegasus-the-spyware-targeting-journalists\/#What_is_Pegasus_Project\" >What is Pegasus Project?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-we-know-about-new-investigations-into-pegasus-the-spyware-targeting-journalists\/#What_do_we_know_so_far\" >What do we know so far?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-we-know-about-new-investigations-into-pegasus-the-spyware-targeting-journalists\/#What_is_NSO_Groups_response\" >What is NSO Group\u2019s response?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/what-we-know-about-new-investigations-into-pegasus-the-spyware-targeting-journalists\/#What_are_the_governments_saying\" >What are the governments saying?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#What we know about new investigations into Pegasus, the spyware targeting journalists<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>A string of reports from a new consortium called the\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/forbiddenstories.org\/case\/the-pegasus-project\/\">Pegasus Project<\/a> is shedding light on\u00a0<span>how an invasive piece of spyware has been used to target journalists\u00a0<\/span>and activists around the world. As the investigation aims to throw light on significant events cased by the spyware,<span>here\u2019s a rundown of what these initial reports have revealed so far.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_Pegasus\"><\/span>What is Pegasus?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Pegasus is a type of spyware developed by Israel-based NSO Group. It could reside on your phone and track all your activities.<\/p>\n<p>Pegasus entered the limelight in 2019, when it allegedly exploited a bug in <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WhatsApp<\/a> to gain access to hundreds of smartphones across the world. Later, WhatsApp even filed a lawsuit in the US against the company, for helping governments snoop on more than 1,400 individuals across the globe.<\/p>\n<p>The spyware was also believed to have played part in notable events such as journalist <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/citizenlab.ca\/2018\/10\/the-kingdom-came-to-canada-how-saudi-linked-digital-espionage-reached-canadian-soil\/\">Jamal Khashoggi\u2019s murder<\/a>, and the breach of Jeff Bezos\u2019 phone that led to his divorce.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_Pegasus_Project\"><\/span>What is Pegasus Project?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/forbiddenstories.org\/case\/the-pegasus-project\/\">Pegasus Project<\/a> is a widespread investigation into NSO group-built spyware and who was affected by it. It involves <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/forbiddenstories.org\/\">Forbidden Stories<\/a>, a non-profit to help journalists uncover stories; Amnesty International, a global human rights organization; and 80 journalists from 17 media organizations across the globe.<\/p>\n<p>The project will try and reveal the extent of damage caused by Pegasus spyware across the world and how people were impacted by it.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\u2013 \ud835\uddd5\ud835\udde5\ud835\uddd8\ud835\uddd4\ud835\uddde\ud835\udddc\ud835\udde1\ud835\uddda \u2013<br \/>Global democracy under cyber attack. <br \/>Follow along throughout the week.<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/PegasusProject?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#PegasusProject<\/a><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/R2uuYhMqzV\">pic.twitter.com\/R2uuYhMqzV<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Forbidden Stories (@FbdnStories) <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FbdnStories\/status\/1416789869624430595?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 18, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_do_we_know_so_far\"><\/span><span>What do we know so far?<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Forbidden Stories got access to a list of\u00a0<span>50,000 phone numbers that could be targeted individuals with the Pegasus spyware<\/span>. The early reports from the Pegasus Project partners suggest that there\u2019s no evidence all of these numbers might have been targeted, but they could be persons of interest for government agencies.<\/p>\n<p>Journalists involved in the project were able to identify and verify about <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2021\/jul\/18\/revealed-leak-uncovers-global-abuse-of-cyber-surveillance-weapon-nso-group-pegasus\">1,000 numbers across the globe<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Pegasus Project alleged that <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/investigations\/interactive\/2021\/nso-spyware-pegasus-cellphones\/?utm_campaign=wp_main&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter\">at least 10 governments were trying to punch in numbers<\/a> in a secret system to monitor their targets in some way. These countries included\u00a0<span>Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Morocco, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Hungary, India, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Amnesty international ran forensic <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amnesty.org\/en\/latest\/research\/2021\/07\/forensic-methodology-report-how-to-catch-nso-groups-pegasus\/\">tests across 67 phones<\/a>\u00a0out of which, 37 phones were found to have traces of the Pegasus Spyware. Canada-based Citizen Labs also verified these findings to solidify earlier observations.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"post-image post-mediaBleed aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1361064 js-lazy\" alt=\"Journalist Jamal Khashoggi who was murdered in 2018\" width=\"429\" height=\"600\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 429px) 100vw, 429px\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/07\/856px-Jamal_Khashoggi_in_March_2018_cropped-796x1114.jpeg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/07\/856px-Jamal_Khashoggi_in_March_2018_cropped-796x1114.jpeg 796w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/07\/856px-Jamal_Khashoggi_in_March_2018_cropped-150x210.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/07\/856px-Jamal_Khashoggi_in_March_2018_cropped-193x270.jpeg 193w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/07\/856px-Jamal_Khashoggi_in_March_2018_cropped-96x135.jpeg 96w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/07\/856px-Jamal_Khashoggi_in_March_2018_cropped.jpeg 856w\"\/><figcaption>Credit: Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><figcaption><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/#\" data-url=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Feditorial.thenextweb.com%2Fsecurity%2F2021%2F07%2F19%2Fwhat-we-know-about-new-investigations-into-pegasus-the-spyware-targeting-journalists%2F&amp;via=thenextweb&amp;related=thenextweb&amp;text=Check out this picture on: Journalist Jamal Khashoggi who was murdered in 2018\" data-title=\"Share Journalist Jamal Khashoggi who was murdered in 2018 on Twitter\" data-width=\"685\" data-height=\"500\" class=\"post-image-share popitup\" title=\"Share Journalist Jamal Khashoggi who was murdered in 2018 on Twitter\"><i class=\"icon icon--inline icon--twitter--dark\"\/><\/a>Journalist Jamal Khashoggi who was murdered in 2018<\/figcaption><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1361064\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/07\/856px-Jamal_Khashoggi_in_March_2018_cropped-796x1114.jpeg\" alt=\"Journalist Jamal Khashoggi who was murdered in 2018\" width=\"429\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/07\/856px-Jamal_Khashoggi_in_March_2018_cropped-796x1114.jpeg 796w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/07\/856px-Jamal_Khashoggi_in_March_2018_cropped-150x210.jpeg 150w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/07\/856px-Jamal_Khashoggi_in_March_2018_cropped-193x270.jpeg 193w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/07\/856px-Jamal_Khashoggi_in_March_2018_cropped-96x135.jpeg 96w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/07\/856px-Jamal_Khashoggi_in_March_2018_cropped.jpeg 856w\"\/><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<p>The report stated that two of Khashoggi\u2019s close aides, his fiance, and his son, were targeted by the notorious spyware.<\/p>\n<p>The investigation also found out that the phone of\u00a0<span>Mexican journalist Cecilio Pineda, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2017\/mar\/03\/journalist-killed-cecilio-pineda-birto-mexico\">who was killed in 2017<\/a>, had his phone hacked. Plus, Xavier Olea Pelaez, the state prosecutor in charge of the Pineda murder case, was also attacked using Pegasus.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_NSO_Groups_response\"><\/span>What is NSO Group\u2019s response?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>NSO Group responded to Pegasus Project by claiming that these investigations contain\u00a0<span>\u201cwrong assumptions\u201d and \u201cuncorroborated theories,\u201d and the company\u2019s is committed to\u00a0a \u201clife-saving mission\u201d:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span>NSO Group firmly denies false claims made in your report which many of them are uncorroborated theories that raise serious doubts about the reliability of your sources, as well as the basis of your story.\u00a0Your sources have supplied you with information that has no factual basis, as evidenced by the lack of supporting documentation for many of the claims.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The alleged amount of \u2018leaked data of more than 50,000 phone numbers,\u2019 cannot be a list of numbers targeted by governments using Pegasus, based on this exaggerated number.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The group added that they don\u2019t have insights into how its software is used by its customers. However, it said that it performs checks on its customers\u2019 human rights violation record before onboarding them.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_are_the_governments_saying\"><\/span>What are the governments saying?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The Indian government responded to these allegations by saying that previously, the country\u2019s IT minister had specified that \u201c<span>there has been no unauthorised interception by government agencies.\u201d Plus, it has a clear protocol about interception, which involves several highly ranked officers at the national and state level.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Government of India\u2019s response to inquiries on the \u2018Pegasus Project\u2019 media report. <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/F4AxPZ8876\">pic.twitter.com\/F4AxPZ8876<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 ANI (@ANI) <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ANI\/status\/1416800154871468036?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 18, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The Rawanda government said that it doesn\u2019t possess <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/news\/2021\/jul\/18\/response-from-nso-and-governments\">this technical ability in any form and these accusations are false<\/a>. The Hungarian government also squashed these claims, and retorted\u00a0<span>by asking whether these investigating journalists have similarlyl questioned the US, the UK, Germany or France.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Amnesty\u2019s investigation found attacks <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amnesty.org\/en\/latest\/research\/2021\/07\/forensic-methodology-report-how-to-catch-nso-groups-pegasus\/\">dating from 2014 to as recently as this month<\/a>. As Pegasus\u2019 threat is still looming large, we\u2019ll keep an eye on reports from this new consortium and\u00a0<span>bring you recaps covering how it\u2019s being used around the world.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/what-we-know-about-new-investigations-into-pegasus-the-spyware-targeting-journalists\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#What we know about new investigations into Pegasus, the spyware targeting journalists&#8221; A string of reports from a new consortium called the\u00a0Pegasus Project is shedding light on\u00a0how an invasive piece of spyware has been used to target journalists\u00a0and activists around the world. As the investigation aims to throw light on significant events cased by the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":302361,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/tnw?filter_last=1&fit=1280,640&url=https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/07\/gilles-lambert-pb_lF8VWaPU-unsplash-e1626674707913.jpg&signature=bc322a542828152867b28d21459b851b","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-302360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=302360"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302360\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/302361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}