For the first time, a US court has held Israel’s NSO Group responsible for its intrusive spyware Pegasus, which could set a measure of accountability for the company that it has long allegedly shied away from.
The decision came In a lawsuit filed by Meta-owned WhatsApp against NSO Group, the judge in the case, Phyllis Hamilton, held that the Israeli spyware maker was responsible for targeting the devices of 1,400 WhatsApp users and violating computer fraud and abuse clauses. Act (CFAA), a federal cybersecurity law, and a similar state law in California called California Computer Data Protection. Access and Fraud Act (CDAFA).
Victims of Pegasus use included senior government officials, journalists, human rights activists, political dissidents and diplomats. The establishment of Pegasus also extended to devices in India, including allegedly journalists, politicians, Union ministers, besides members of civil society.
In the US, President Joe Biden’s administration blacklisted NSO Group in 2021 and prohibited US government agencies from purchasing its products. Pegasus has been hacked by totalitarian governments around the world.
Alleged Pegasus target in India, Center denies
In 2021, it was reported Pegasus was used More than 300 Indian mobile numbers, including two ministers of the Narendra Modi government, three opposition leaders, a constitutional authority, several journalists and businessmen.
The NSO group has repeatedly said it only deals with the government and government agencies, while revelations of central and state government involvement in the attacks have raised eyebrows. However, it should be noted that as part of the WhatsApp vs. NSO Group case, unsealed documents showed that the NSO Group had downplayed its role in the deployment of Pegasus over the years. Through interviews and an evaluation of subpoenaed documents, WhatsApp refuted this claim, alleging that Pegasus’ customers had a “minimal role” in its use, with NSO Group managing a large part of the process.
Following media reports in 2021, the Indian government categorically denied all ‘top allegations’ of surveillance using Pegasus. In a statement in Parliament at the time, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said the reports had “no merit”. He added that India’s surveillance laws ensure that “there can be no unauthorized surveillance”. Reports claimed that Vaishnava himself could be the target of Pegasus’ use.
At that time, the NSO group also claimed that the allegations of espionage were false and misleading. “The report … is full of false assumptions and unsubstantiated theories that cast serious doubt on the credibility and interest of the sources. It appears that ‘unknown sources’ have provided information that has no factual basis and is far from reality,” the NSO Group said in a statement. said
An inquiry led by the Supreme Court
After allegations of Pegasus being used on civilians in India, several petitions were filed in the Supreme Court to investigate the allegations.
In 2021, the Supreme Court constituted a committee of technical experts to look into allegations of unauthorized surveillance using Pegasus software. In August 2022, a committee of technical experts found no conclusive evidence about the use of spyware on phones but noted that the central government was “not cooperating” with the panel. The report is printed and not released to the public.
“As the report has been submitted to the Supreme Court, it would not be appropriate to make any comment,” retired judge RV Ravindran, who is supervising the inquiry panel, had earlier told The Indian Express.
Face-off in the states
While the central government’s involvement in using Pegasus on Indian citizens remains questionable, the spyware has become a hotly debated issue in at least two states – West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh.
In 2021, the West Bengal government set up a commission of inquiry into the alleged surveillance of phones using Pegasus. It was established to inquire into and report on reported interactions in the hands of state actors and non-state actors and the capture, storage and use of such information collected through such intercepts. However, the work of the commission was stopped after the Supreme Court stopped it.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee later claimed that the West Bengal government had received an offer to buy Pegasus spyware, with the NSO group ready to provide its spyware to the state police for Rs 25 crore around four-five years ago.
In Andhra Pradesh, the alleged use of Pegasus became a political issue between the YSRCP and the TDP. In 2022, the state assembly passed a resolution to set up a committee to find out whether Pegasus had been purchased and used by the previous Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government, following Banerjee’s statement that Pegasus had been offered to West Bengal.
YSRCP, then in power in the state, alleged that TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu may have purchased the Pegasus spyware to keep tabs on rival political leaders, including earlier Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
In 2024, when the TDP won the assembly elections and regained control of the state, Chandrababu Naidu sought a report from the Director General of Police (DGP) on whether Pegasus had been used to tap the phones of him and his son N Lokesh Naidu. YS Jagan Mohan Reddy Govt.
Lokesh Naidu told The Indian Express that he and Naidu were targeted twice and received alerts on their mobile phones. “I have been targeted twice, once during my Yuva Galam Yatra in March 2023 and once during election campaigning this April. We both received alerts from Apple. We suspect that the Jagan government used Pegasus to tap our phones,” said Lokesh.
Why should you buy our membership?
You want to be the smartest in the room.
You want access to our award-winning journalism.
You don’t want to be confused and misinformed.
Choose your subscription package