Mobile attacks have become evermore common as the progress of technology marches on. The commonality of these attacks are becoming more concerning as they are evolving into silent killers. On July 18, 2021, multiple news outlets such as The Washington Post, reported that the spyware Pegasus has infiltrated the devices of human rights activists, academics, business executives, and government officials.
Pegasus is a software that is meant for hacking, and hacking quickly. It has been developed by an Israeli company NSO Group, and has been licensed to governments and businesses around the world. It has the potential and ability to access any iOS or Android device to collect all forms of communications, camera functions, emails, messaging, GPS, keychain passwords, and contact lists without being detected. As of now, the software is actively operating in 45 countries, and the software has been linked to abusive use of spyware in civil society in over 6 countries.
It can be installed through SMS messaging, WhatsApp, iMessage, and other unknown messaging vulnerabilities. Once installed, it has the ability to access all prior mentioned data while also having the ability to harvest information from third party apps that have been gathering your information since you have downloaded it. While NSO denies that they are responsible for any breaches that have been made, it is imperative to acknowledge that they are responsible for creating this technology and profiting off of it.
While the operators and purchasers of the software are responsible for their activity and their decision to infiltrate the devices, NSO is responsible for creating the possibility to do so. It appears that operators are primarily focused on establishing data caches in the US, Turkey, the UAE, Mexico, and France. This is significant due to the massive sharing of sensitive data in these countries specifically.
The topic of modern surveillance is nothing new, and has become a sort of “given” in today’s society. Nevertheless, it is crucial to inform ourselves on how our data is being used whether it is through the infiltration of our government officials, or if it is data monitoring to tell us what to purchase next.
Mobile attacks have become evermore common as the progress of technology marches on. The commonality of these attacks are becoming more concerning as they are evolving into silent killers. On July 18, 2021, multiple news outlets such as The Washington Post, reported that the spyware Pegasus has infiltrated the devices of human rights activists, academics, business executives, and government officials.
Pegasus is a software that is meant for hacking, and hacking quickly. It has been developed by an Israeli company NSO Group, and has been licensed to governments and businesses around the world. It has the potential and ability to access any iOS or Android device to collect all forms of communications, camera functions, emails, messaging, GPS, keychain passwords, and contact lists without being detected. As of now, the software is actively operating in 45 countries, and the software has been linked to abusive use of spyware in civil society in over 6 countries.
It can be installed through SMS messaging, WhatsApp, iMessage, and other unknown messaging vulnerabilities. Once installed, it has the ability to access all prior mentioned data while also having the ability to harvest information from third party apps that have been gathering your information since you have downloaded it. While NSO denies that they are responsible for any breaches that have been made, it is imperative to acknowledge that they are responsible for creating this technology and profiting off of it.
While the operators and purchasers of the software are responsible for their activity and their decision to infiltrate the devices, NSO is responsible for creating the possibility to do so. It appears that operators are primarily focused on establishing data caches in the US, Turkey, the UAE, Mexico, and France. This is significant due to the massive sharing of sensitive data in these countries specifically.
The topic of modern surveillance is nothing new, and has become a sort of “given” in today’s society. Nevertheless, it is crucial to inform ourselves on how our data is being used whether it is through the infiltration of our government officials, or if it is data monitoring to tell us what to purchase next.
Spyware is evolving into a much quicker, reliable, and quiet entity. While we are all becoming unknown spies, we are also becoming increasingly monitored. It is up to us to protect ourselves from these types of attacks in order to protect our privacy in the digital and physical world. Softwares such as Pegasus seem harmless enough; however, they have the possibility to change our lives as we know it.
