Leak Exposes Global Abuse Of Cyber-Spying Weapon To Target Politicians, Activists, & Journalists
Leak Exposes Global Abuse Of Cyber-Spying Weapon To Target Politicians, Activists, & Journalists
Zerohedge is reporting:
As Ed Snowden warned in a tweet when the story broke this weekend, “this leak is going to be the story of the year.”
Stop what you're doing and read this. This leak is going to be the story of the year: (LINK: https://t.co/zhC0LN4TlC) pic.twitter.com/doo4HDDzxt
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) July 18, 2021
Southfront reports that an Israeli company’s spyware was used in attempted and successful hacks of 37 smartphones belonging to journalists, government officials and human rights activists around the world, according to an investigation by 17 media organizations, published on July 18th.
One of the organizations, The Washington Post, said the Pegasus spyware licensed by Israel-based NSO Group also was used to target phones belonging to two women close to Jamal Khashoggi, a Post columnist murdered at a Saudi consulate in Turkey in 2018.
One of them was his fiancee, and she and the other woman were targeted both before and after his death.
The Guardian, another of the media outlets, said the investigation suggested “widespread and continuing abuse” of NSO’s hacking software, described as malware that infects smartphones to enable the extraction of messages, photos and emails; record calls; and secretly activate microphones.
The investigation highlights widespread and continuing abuse of NSO’s hacking spyware called ‘Pegasus’ which the company confirms is only intended for use against terrorist groups, drug and human traffickers, and criminals.
Pegasus is a very advanced malware that infects iOS and Android devices to allow operators of the spyware to copy messages, photos, calls and other data, including secretly activate microphones and cameras.
Based on the investigation, the leak contains a list of 50,000 phone numbers that have been identified as those of people of interest by clients of NSO since 2016.
The list includes many close family members of one country’s ruler, suggesting he might have instructed the country’s intelligence agencies to explore the possibility of tracking and spying on their own relatives.
