(Photo: The Guardian)
Before dwelling into Pegasus software let us firstly know what Spyware is. We often must have come across this world specially the computer users. So, spyware is basically a software which is designed to gather data from your device. It is considered as vitriolic in nature. It can communicate your confidential information to the person who is spying at you and has vengeful intentions. People with such intention can get spyware in your system through many ways. Spyware can also affect the functioning of your system. Your daily activities can be slowed down due to this. The method by which it gets into your system varies.
Now let’s dive into Pegasus software. Pegasus made global headlines again in 2021. Phones of Indian politicians, Journalists were hacked using Pegasus software. Though it is said that the Pegasus spyware is only available with the government. However, the Indian government completely denied the scandal. So, what exactly is Pegasus? Pegasus is a type of malicious software which is classified as spyware. It gains access to your personal information in your system and sends it to the attacker. Pegasus is considered as the ultimate spyware for iOS and android. Pegasus was developed by NSO group, an Israeli company. It first came to news in 2016 when an Arab activist received a doubtful message. He then started identifying it. Before it was believed that the Pegasus only targets iOS. It was only after a year that researchers confirmed that Pegasus is equally capable of targeting iOS as well as android devices.
Pegasus got widely highlighted because it was capable of hacking iPads and iPhones which claims to be the best in terms of data security and privacy. Indeed, if someone has Pegasus in their phone, the attacker can automatically turn on phone’s camera and microphone to capture the data. What can be worst than this? The Israeli company sells Pegasus to only sovereign government at about 7-8 million dollars per year. In this whole process of hacking, the user has no clue that their phone has been hacked. The normal phishing method is typically adopted by the attackers to infect the victim’s device. Clicking on the phishing link would start downloading the Pegasus software in the victim’s device without their knowledge. Through this the hacker gets command over the device.
Pegasus is considered as an extremely sophisticated spyware as it is able to gather vast information from the victim’s device such as password, message, account pin, credit card number, voice calls, etc. The other features which make it the most vicious amongst all is that it can self-destruct itself if it fails to communicate with the attacker or if it detects that it has been installed in a device with wrong SIM card. The intention of the NSO group behind making this spyware was good as it was meant for the law enforcement agencies to use it against terrorism. Who knew that it will be viciously used by the hackers for their own destructive motives?
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