Skip to main content

Breaking News. NSO Confirms Pegasus Spyware Used by at least 5 European Countries.



The beleaguered Israeli surveillanceware vendor NSO Group this week admitted to the European Union lawmakers that its Pegasus tool was used by at least five countries in the region.


"We're trying to do the right thing and that's more than other companies working in the industry," Chaim Gelfand, the company's general counsel and chief compliance officer, said, according to a report from Politico.


Acknowledging that it had "made mistakes," the company also stressed on the need for an international standard to regulate the government use of spyware.


The disclosure comes as a special inquiry committee was launched in April 2022 to investigate alleged breaches of E.U. law following revelations that the company's Pegasus spyware is being used to snoop on phones belonging to politicians, diplomats, and civil society members.


"The committee is going to look into existing national laws regulating surveillance, and whether Pegasus spyware was used for political purposes against, for example, journalists, politicians and lawyers," the European Parliament said in March 2022.


Earlier this February, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) called for a ban on the development and the use of commercial spyware in the region, stating that the technology's "unprecedented level of intrusiveness" could endanger users' right to privacy.


Pegasus, and its other counterparts like FinFisher and Cytrox, are designed to be stealthily installed on a smartphone by exploiting unknown vulnerabilities in software known as zero-days to seize remote control of the device and harvest sensitive data.


Infections are typically achieved by means of one-click attacks wherein targets are tricked into clicking on a link sent via messages on iMessage or WhatsApp, or alternatively using zero-click exploits that require no interaction.


Once installed, the spyware provides support for a broad range of capabilities that allows the operator to track the victim's whereabouts, eavesdrop on conversations, and exfiltrate messages from even encrypted apps like WhatsApp.


NSO Group, founded in 2010, has long maintained it only supplies the software to government customers for what it says is to tackle terrorism, drug trafficking, and serious crime, but evidence has shown widespread misuse of the software to keep tabs on political opponents, critics, activists, journalists, lawyers across the world.


"The use of Pegasus does not require cooperation with telecommunication companies, and it can easily overcome encryption, SSL, proprietary protocols, and any hurdle introduced by the complex communications worldwide," the Council of Europe noted in an interim report.


"It provides remote, covert, and unlimited access to the target's mobile devices. This Modus Operandi of the Pegasus clearly reveals its capacity to be used for targeted as well as indiscriminate surveillance."

#THN

#osutayusuf

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

UGANDA ELECTORAL COMMISSION TO ELIMINATE NATIONAL IDENTIFICATION CARDS (IDs) FOR 2021 GENERAL ELECTIONS.

The elimination of using National IDs (Ndagamuntu) for the 2021 elections should not have come as a surprise. One would be very NAIVE to think that Bobi Wine has not prepared for this in his Business Plan under the RISK section. It is public knowledge that our EC is not independent.  It is also public knowledge that Military Dictator Yoweri Museveni will never lose an election. What stunned us this morning is when we noticed that on social media, people were mocking Bobi with his "get your Ndagamuntu".  We are on record for saying to all Our readers that the National ID is like Apartheid in South Africa. Students of History would know how those IDs were being used to arrest people, deny them jobs, deny them basic services. Consequently, Bobi was not wrong and will never be wrong on the Ndagamuntu. Except the ones attacking him and mocking him forget that in Uganda, now, no National ID (Ndagamuntu), no service.  If you have not been denied registering your child i...

Here is Why Our Utterances For Praying Jesus And God To Come Liberate Ugandans, May Be Misplaced. This Phrase is like inform of a Letter To Some Categorized Section Of Ugandans.

https://m.facebook.com/yusufosuta/photos/a.1896701010557789/2070383359856219/?type=3 OPEN LETTER TO NRM SUPPORTERS - NATIONAL ROBBERS MOVEMENT. .................................................................................. Last week of March, a friend told me to pray for Uganda.  I told him that he was an Idiot and we have prayed for too long and we are still hungry and sick and Jesus is not coming soon to liberate us. He then ignored the STUPID and sent me a picture we all now know.  It got me totally messed up.  This guy was telling me to pray then sends a picture of men bowing down in blood.  He might have meant guns but I blocked him because his utterances of praying for Uganda were misplaced. I unblocked him 3 weeks later and asked him about praying and assassinations.  His reply "eithrr prayers or guns or both". I hate violence with a passion.  So he is now blocked in like FOREVER. Do you feel safe?  Do not feel safe. Uganda regim...

Parliament Urges Government to Provide Shs 4 Billion to Media Houses to Run Awareness Campaign on Tourism in Uganda.

Parliament also urged Gov’t to provide additional Shs4Bn to UTB to engage international and national media houses in production of positive media stories for improved destination image, following reports of drop in number of tourists from US, Europe and China visiting Uganda. "The National Development Plan targeted to cumulatively attract 281,760 International Tourist arrivals from US, Europe & China but only 67,252 arrivals were registered by the end of the first half of FY 2023/24. The U.S, Europe & China were key target source for leisure tourist who stay longer than business tourists. However, statistics show that international arrivals from the aforementioned areas have continue to drop. The UTB requires Shs4Bn to engage international & national media houses in production of positive tourism stories to improve destination perception in light of recent controversies that shade the destination in a bad light. However, this has remained unfunded,” said La...