What happened?
According to the results of the investigation, the Azerbaijani authorities used a spy program produced by the Israeli company NSO Group, known for developing devices for cyber-harassment, to wiretap independent journalists and activists.
In May 2021, three chief editors working with OCCRP traveled to the capital of Turkey – Ankara, the capital of Turkey and the Azerbaijani journalist Khadija Ismayilova, who received the right to leave the country, went there with them.
Khadija Ismailova (left) and OCCRP journalist Miranda Patrucic. Photo: OCCRP
OCCRP editors told Khadija that the main purpose of their meeting is to convey important information to her. As it turned out, Ismailova’s mobile phone was intercepted by the Pegasus program. Due to its unique properties, this program allows one to pursue the owner of the phone, and secretly perform various operations on it. Pegasus can record all conversations, read the texts of SMS messages, transfer photos and videos
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180 journalists surveilled
July 20, 2021
ISLAMABAD: A global investigation into the leaked data of phone records has revealed that more than 50,000 numbers were targeted through Israel-made surveillance software by its client governments in different countries which are hostile towards journalists, activists and political opponents. At least, 180 journalists were surveilled through the Pegasus software the Israeli firm, NSO Group, sold to different governments.
More than 2000 Pakistanis and Indians were also targets of surveillance done through Pegasus between 2017 and 2019, the identities of Pakistanis are not known. An earlier report indicated that around a couple of defense and intelligence officials from Pakistan were also spied through this software.
Developed by Israeli cyber intelligence NSO Group known for its expertise in creating specialised cyber weapons Pegasus is a highly sophisticated surveillance tool. It got widespread attention in 2019 when WhatsApp alerted several users that a spyware had compromised their phones.
WhatsApp, Amnesty International and others sued NSO in the US in 2019, but Pegasus was reportedly used as early as 2016, when an Arab human rights activist’s iPhone was hacked. Within days, Apple released an iOS update that reportedly patched the vulnerability targeted by Pegasus.
Pegasus is in the middle of a massive controversy again with an international media collaboration reporting an unidentified agency may be targeting journalists and others for surveillance with it. Among the 50,000 phone numbers found on a potential list for surveillance, 40 are of Indian journalists.
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