It’s being described as the most powerful spyware ever developed. So what is Pegasus? And is it possible to protect yourself from it? We break down the basics of what has been reported in the news over the past few days.
What is Pegasus spyware?
Pegasus is phone hacking software created by an Israeli company called NSO Group and sold to governments around the world.
Why is Pegasus in the news now?
A leaked list has revealed 50,000 phone numbers believed to be “of interest to clients” of NSO, and that list includes phone numbers belonging to rights activists, journalists, lawyers, politicians, and business executives spanning more than 50 countries.
NSO says the product is meant for monitoring criminals and terrorists. The company also says it only sells the software to agencies in countries that have good human rights records, and that it will investigate misuse of Pegasus.
What does Pegasus do?
Once it’s on your phone, Pegasus can:
- Copy messages you send or receive
- Collect your photos
- Record your calls
- Film you through your phone’s camera
- Record your surroundings and conversations in real life
- Know where you are
How does Pegasus infect your phone?
What makes Pegasus so terrifyingly sophisticated is it can infect devices through “zero-click” attacks, meaning the user does not have to click on anything for the software to get installed.
A phone might be infected with Pegasus just by receiving a malicious message. Other methods include installation via a nearby wireless transceiver, or of course manual installation, if someone has access to the physical phone.
Often, Pegasus takes advantage of zero-day vulnerabilities—newly discovered flaws in an operating system or device that have yet to be fixed.
Should this matter to you?
Even if you’re a “nobody,” sophisticated digital monitoring matters to you. It has the potential to violate your privacy, whoever you are. Read more on why you should care about surveillance even if you have nothing to hide.
Is there anything you can do to stay clear of Pegasus?
If someone is motivated enough to target you with Pegasus, at the moment there is little you can do to protect yourself, given the ways in which the spyware can be installed on your phone.
If you suspect Pegasus is on your phone, your best bet is to get rid of your phone.
Improve your phone security
Most of us won’t be targeted by something as sophisticated as Pegasus or the similar Predator spyware (for now). But here are ways to improve your security on your phone and keep your online activity private:
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Comments
so how might one detect pegasus or other such spyware and take appropriate action? e.g. replace phone and simplify the data upon it thereafter
If you reformat an turn off texting wouldn’t that protect your phone from being infected
Everyone is focusing on Pegasus but there another more wicked spyware available.
Why the tease? What is it?
Is their any software out their that we can purchase similar too Pegasus ?
Good VPN
Censoring comments now, I see. The whole point of inviting comments is not just to provide an echo chamber. Sometimes there might be things you disagree with.
Your previous comment has been approved. Thanks for alerting to the oversight.
Can i reset my phone to otihinal factory settings?
Yes, you can.
For iPhone: https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/iphea1c2fe48/ios
Android phones vary, but here is one example: https://support.google.com/android/answer/6088915?hl=en
“If someone is motivated enough to target you with Pegasus, at the moment there is little you can do to protect yourself… but, “If you suspect Pegasus is on your phone, your best bet is to get rid of your phone” – are contradictory statements. Surely, if you suspect your phone is hacked your identity and contacts are already known? All of those contacts could also be infected by a message sent from your phone: very likely if you are subject to surveillance in the first place. And so, getting a new phone that you use regularly, won’t necessarily help. Border and immigration services in some countries expect people entering the country to unlock their phones for inspection anyway. (I just can’t see those who care so little about privacy with their data plastered across social media being bothered enough to hand over a “clean” phone after first copying stuff to the cloud).
After Edward Snowden in 2013 exposed mass surveillance by the National Security Agency in the US and GCHQ in Britain, there was a rush to encrypt devices. Governments wanted a way around the encryption and “plausible deniability” if they were caught snooping. If legal sanctions against encryption were difficult, the private sector could be relied on to produce a solution. Any software that is marketed as: “… technology that helps government agencies prevent and investigate terrorism and crime to save thousands of lives around the globe” will be of interest to all governments and used in a wider context.
So far, the Israeli company has stated it has 40 clients in military, law enforcement and intelligence agencies, although other sources say it is 45 countries across four continents.
‘Pegasus’ is a bizarre choice of name, unless it is an “in-house” joke relating to other winged horses.
So there’s nothing I can do against the pegasus spyware or even to know if It’s been installed on my phone , right?
I am the CEO of the Mexican Newspaper
“EXCELSIOR” would you please,be so kind as to tell me what to do?
I have so many information that 8t would take me or my It people ages to change my phone,please& thanks in advanced.
If you think Pegasus has been installed on your phone, you’ll probably have to get a new phone — but that doesn’t mean no one can install it on your new phone once they realize you’ve switched devices.
After being ousted from your position in 2001 after a 25-year reign, didn’t you die in 2017?
“Regino Díaz Redondo falleció el domingo 31 de diciembre de 2017 en Madrid España”
I can give you a list of current senior staff at Excelsior if you like.
[Perhaps not a good choice of alias]
Editor- director Regino Diaz was ousted from the Excelsior newspaper over 20 years ago.
Thanks, Penny for the article. Scary that there is no way to get rid of the spyware for now. Glad I am nobody of interest to anyone.
What is the point of all the privacy browsers and VPN’S if they can just put something like Pegasus on your phone at will and all you can do is basically nothing?
Yes, Pegasus is a big problem, but a VPN is still able to prevent other, more run-of-the-mill snoops from intercepting your online traffic, while a privacy browser can help prevent Big Tech from collecting data on you.