<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/18/revealed-leak-uncovers-global-abuse-of-cyber-surveillance-weapon-nso-group-pegasus>
Human rights activists, journalists and lawyers across the world have been
targeted by authoritarian governments using hacking software sold by the
Israeli surveillance company NSO Group, according to an investigation into a
massive data leak.
The investigation by the Guardian and 16 other media organisations suggests
widespread and continuing abuse of NSO’s hacking spyware, Pegasus, which the
company insists is only intended for use against criminals and terrorists.
Pegasus is a malware that infects iPhones and Android devices to enable
operators of the tool to extract messages, photos and emails, record calls and
secretly activate microphones.
The leak contains a list of more than 50,000 phone numbers that, it is
believed, have been identified as those of people of interest by clients of NSO
since 2016.
Forbidden Stories, a Paris-based nonprofit media organisation, and Amnesty
International initially had access to the leaked list and shared access with
media partners as part of the Pegasus project, a reporting consortium.
The presence of a phone number in the data does not reveal whether a device was
infected with Pegasus or subject to an attempted hack. However, the consortium
believes the data is indicative of the potential targets NSO’s government
clients identified in advance of possible surveillance attempts.
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