A cyber expert has filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court saying that there was evidence of government involvement in deploying the Pegasus malware against individuals.
A new investigative piece by The New York Times has reignited the controversy over the spyware Pegasus, made by Israeli security firm NSO. The Congress has renewed their attack on the government over the spyware's alleged illegal use in India.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday dismissed an investigation pointing to the use of the Pegasus hacking software to spy on journalists, activists and Opposition leaders in India, calling it “a report by the disrupters for the obstructers”.
Pegasus is developed, marketed and licensed to governments around the world by the Israeli company NSO Group. The company says that it licenses its
software only to “vetted governments” and that Pegasus is meant to be targeted at criminals.
But, a leaked list, featuring more than 50,000 phone numbers “concentrated in countries known to engage in surveillance of their citizens”, was accessed by Paris-based media nonprofit Forbidden Stories and Amnesty International, which shared it with 17 news organisations as part of the Pegasus Project.