Pegasus spyware is also known by other names like Q Suite and Trident. Spyware can also infiltrate Apple’s iOS, which is why it’s known as one of the most refined products available.
Pegasus spyware is also known by other names like Q Suite and Trident.
The Israeli company NSO Group is once again in the headlines for developing Pegasus. Pegasus is a spyware used by the company to spy on prominent figures including the government, journalists and politicians. However, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has denied any unauthorized interception by government agencies.
“The allegations of government surveillance on specific individuals have no solid basis or any truth attached to it,” the IT ministry said in a statement. The ministry said that the government is committed to ensure the right to privacy of all its citizens. Yet a worrying aspect of Pegasus spyware is that it has evolved to zero-click attacks using spear-phishing methods, which do not require any action from the user. It makes it almost impossible to detect or prevent and it is also arguably the most powerful spyware in the world.
What is Pegasus?
Pegasus is software that can be installed on your smartphone by an attacker to track all the activity of your device. The spyware originally hit the headlines in 2016, when UAE human rights activist Ahmed Mansoor received a text message on his phone about tortured prisoners in the country with a link that he sent to researchers at Citizen Lab. After investigation, it was found that the links were linked to the basic structure belonging to the NSO Group. Since then spyware has evolved a lot and has now managed to become a zero-click attack. This means that the target user does not need to take any action to install the spyware, thus making it impossible to detect or prevent.
Pegasus spyware is also known by other names like Q Suite and Trident. Spyware can also infiltrate Apple’s iOS, which is why it’s known as one of the most refined products available. Explain that Pegasus was to be used by governments on a per-license basis. However, in May 2019, the company limited the sale of spyware to state intelligence agencies and others.
The NSO Group states on its official website that it makes software to help government agencies, prevent and investigate terrorism and crime. The company also states that it has contractual obligations that require its customers to limit the use of its products to the prevention and investigation of serious crimes and to ensure that their use does not violate human rights. Will be done.
How does Pegasus work?
Pegasus is now a zero-click attack, which allows the attacker to gain control of the target user’s device without any human interaction. This relies on the software being used, which receives the data before the device can determine whether the data is coming from a trusted source.
On Apple smartphones, the spyware was taking advantage of a crack in the Mail app, which was reportedly patched in April 2020. After that, the program targeted Apple Wireless Device Link (AWDL).
On Android devices, the spyware was targeting the graphics library of phones running version 4.4.4 and above. Many attackers have also taken advantage of vulnerabilities in Whatsapp.
How can you protect yourself from Pegasus?
Pegasus and other zero-click attacks have become very difficult to detect, especially in encrypted environments where there is no visibility on the data packets. However, users can still take some steps to protect themselves. The first step would be to keep your smartphone updated to ensure that there are patches available for the vulnerabilities that have been noticed. No app should be sideloaded on other operating systems. Finally, users can stop using the apps and switch to checking email, social media, etc. on the web browser.
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