Israeli spyware used to snoop on journalists

New Delhi: Facebook-owned messaging giant WhatsApp on Thursday confirmed that several Indian journalists, human rights activists, lawyers and senior government officials were among those globally spied upon by unnamed entities using an Israeli sypware.

The messaging service informed several Indian users this week that they had been targeted by Israeli spyware Pegasus in May this year, just before the general election.

“Indian users were among those contacted by us this week. The number of those affected is not insignificant. More than 20 people were alerted that their phones had been under surveillance for two weeks in May,” WhatsApp said in a statement. WhatsApp described the hacking attempt as “an unmistakable pattern of abuse.”

Pegasus, a spyware developed by Israeli surveillance firm NSO Group, is used to break into mobile phones. NSO helped unnamed entities hack into phones of roughly 1,400 users worldwide.

Pegasus takes over the phone’s operating system and gives access to users’ passwords, messages and calls. It is also capable of turning the phone into a microphone that can listen to conversations in a room.

On Thursday, WhatsApp said it was suing the NSO Group and seeking more than $75,000 in damages.

“We quickly added new protections to our systems and issued an update to WhatsApp to help keep people safe. We are now taking additional action, based on what we have learned to date,” the statement read.

Expressing concern, the Information Technology (IT) Ministry asked WhatsApp for a detailed response in this regard by November four. “This is between WhatsApp, which is an American Company, and the Israeli company. WhatsApp does not have a server in India. This is similar to the allegations levelled on Cambridge Analytica. We have been asking WhatsApp to provide at least traceability, if not decryption, so that in case of law and order situation, mischief makers can be traced, but WhatsApp hasn’t cooperated,” the IT Ministry sources told Gulf News.

Meanwhile, the Opposition Congress party lashed out at the government for the snooping scandal.

“The Narendra Modi government caught snooping! Appalling but not surprising! After all, BJP government fought against our right to privacy, set up a multi-crore surveillance structure until stopped by Supreme Court. The top court must take immediate cognisance and issue notice to BJP government,” Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala tweeted.

WhatsApp has over 400 million users in India.