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Last week, when the Project Pegasus news story was broken by a consortium of media houses across the world, many were left flabbergasted.
The shock wasn’t because of the way the espionage was conducted. In the intelligence gathering circles, across the world, it is a given that an intelligence agency would go to any extent to extract information about you, if they perceive you as a threat to the sovereignty of the state. That threat usually emanates from anti-social activities like terrorism and crime.
Who would have thought that this espionage would be used as tool to keep track of political rivals, civil society leaders and journalists? This sent shivers down the spine of many people, who were somehow related to these unknown victims of espionage.
What is the Pegasus Project?
It is an investigation by a consortium of media houses, which has revealed more than 50,000 phone numbers having been targeted by a spyware created by NSO Group, an Israeli software company.
But what is Pegasus per se?
Pegasus, or what is also known as Q Suite, can be called as an espionage tool marketed by the Israeli cybersecurity firm NSO Group or Q Cyber Technologies as “a world-leading cyber intelligence solution that enables law enforcement and intelligence agencies to remotely and covertly extract” data “from any mobile devices. The software was developed by ex-members of Israeli intelligence agencies. Initially, the NSO Group clients were dependent on SMS and WhatsApp messages to trick targets into opening a malicious link. Once you click on the link, your phone is directed to a server that checks the operating system and delivers the suitable remote exploit.
So, can anyone use it to target opponents?
Officially, NSO Group sells the software to elected governments only. A single licence, that can be used to infect several smartphones, can cost up to US$1 million. According to a 2016 rate list, NSO Group was charging its customers as much as US$650,000 to infiltrate 10 devices, along with an installation fee of US$500,000.
What damage can it cause?
Once the software is installed on a phone, Pegasus can intercept and steal any information or data on the device, including text messages, contacts, call history, calendars, emails and browsing histories. It, in a way, creates a remote database for the phone. Pegasus can also use your phone’s microphone to record any calls you make and any other conversations. It can also stealthily film you with its camera without you knowing or track your exact location with GPS.
Why the outrage?
As you can see, all these ways of espionage tools are needed when you are tracking a dreaded criminal or a terrorist, in order to break in their network of operatives. Using it against the people you have political differences with, or the people who work at key posts in civil society rightly raises privacy concerns. Imagine a bio-scientist from India, who was never a threat to any country, had all her calls being recorded – even personal. Is it even ethical?
