WhatsApp has revealed that Israeli spyware, called Pegasus, was used by operators to spy on journalists and human rights activists in India. As per reports, a WhatsApp spokesperson said that WhatsApp was aware of those targeted and had reached out to them, but the Facebook-owned company has declined to reveal the identities and "exact number" of those who were targeted.
The latest disclosure by WhatsApp comes after the company announced earlier this week that it was suing NSO Group, an Israeli surveillance firm that is reportedly behind the technology that helped government spies to hack into phones of roughly 1,400 users. These users span across four continents and included diplomats, political dissidents, journalists, and senior government officials.
As per a WhatsApp spokesperson, "Indian journalists and human rights activists have been the target of surveillance and while I cannot reveal their identities and the exact number, I can say that it is not an insignificant number."
The spyware requires the target to click on an exploit link which then allows the operator to penetrate security features on the phone and installs Pegasus without the user's knowledge. The operator can then control the phone and gain access to private information like passwords, contact lists, calendar events, text messages from popular mobile messaging apps, the report adds.
Of the 1,400 users affected, at least two dozen were academics, lawyers, Dalit activists and journalists in India. WhatsApp had contacted and alerted the targets that they had been under "state-of-the-art surveillance for a two-week period until May 2019." In May, WhatsApp updated the app and launched a probe into how the hack worked and affected people.