India was one of a number of nations that used spyware developed by an Israeli business in attempted and successful hacking of journalists’, government officials’, and human rights activists’ cellphones throughout the world. According to a study by 17 media organisations released on Sunday, at least one number used by Prime Minister Imran Khan was on the India list.
The Washington Post, the Guardian, Le Monde, and other news sources collaborated on an investigation into a data breach and reported on the scope of the spyware – Pegasus – usage.
According to The Washington Post, the monitoring list included over 1,000 phone numbers from India, as well as hundreds from Pakistan, including PM Imran’s old number. The Post does not say whether or if the monitoring on PM Imran’s phone number was successful.
The list included 300 cell phone numbers used in India, including those of government officials, opposition politicians, journalists, scientists, and rights campaigners, according to the Indian investigative news website The Wire.
More than 40 Indian journalists from prominent newspapers such as the Hindustan Times, The Hindu, and the Indian Express, as well as two founding editors of The Wire, were among those whose numbers were released, according to the report.
Fawad Chaudhry, the Federal Minister of Information and Broadcasting, said he was “very disturbed” by the findings. “The Modi government’s unethical actions have gravely divided India and the region,” he said.
Shireen Mazari, the Federal Human Rights Minister, also commented on the event, stating that “part two” of the investigation on how the Indian government spied on its own ministers will be released today.
After WhatsApp filed a lawsuit in the United States accusing NSO, the Israeli corporation that created the spyware, of exploiting the messaging network to commit cyber espionage, the Indian government denied in 2019 that it had used the virus to spy on its citizens.
Since at least 2016, when researchers accused Israel’s NSO Group of assisting in the spying on a dissident in the United Arab Emirates, the company and its Pegasus virus have been in the news.
The discoveries on Sunday pose privacy and rights issues, as well as revealing the far-reaching degree to which the private Israeli firm’s software may be misappropriated by its clients throughout the world.
According to media reports, a list of more than 50,000 smartphone numbers thought to have been recognised as individuals of interest by NSO clients during 2016 was leaked.
The Washington Post reported that the NSO Group’s Pegasus malware was also used to target the phones of two women close to Jamal Khashoggi, a Post writer slain in a Saudi consulate in Turkey in 2018, both before and after his death.
According to the Post, Forbidden Stories, a Paris-based journalistic group, and Amnesty International shared the list with the news organisations. The overall number of phones on the list that were really targeted or monitored is unknown, according to the publication.
According to the Post, 15,000 of the names on the list were from Mexico, and included politicians, union leaders, journalists, and government opponents.
The number of a Mexican freelance writer who was killed at a carwash was apparently included on the list. His phone was never discovered, and it’s unclear if it was hacked.
Another news outlet, The Guardian, reported that the investigation revealed “widespread and ongoing abuse” of NSO’s hacking software, which is described as malware that infects smartphones and allows for the extraction of messages, photos, and emails, as well as the recording of calls and the secret activation of microphones.
Journalists from Agence France-Presse, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, The New York Times, Al Jazeera, France 24, Radio Free Europe, Mediapart, El Pais, the Associated Press (AP), Le Monde, Bloomberg, The Economist, Reuters, and Voice of America are among the names on the list, according to the Guardian.
“We’ve taken precautions to protect the security of our journalists’ devices, and we’re looking into it,” she continued.
Dave Moran, a spokesperson for Reuters, said: “Journalists must be able to cover breaking news in the public interest without fear of harassment or injury, no matter where they are. We are aware of the report and are investigating it.”
Meanwhile, Amnesty International condemned “the total absence of oversight” around spying technologies.
“There must be an urgent ban on the export, sale, transfer, and use of surveillance technology until this firm (NSO) and the industry as a whole can demonstrate they are capable of respecting human rights,” the rights organisation said in a statement.
Citizen Lab, a research centre at the University of Toronto, and Amnesty International previously reported on the use of Pegasus software to hack the phones of Al Jazeera reporters and a Moroccan journalist.
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