WhatsApp snooping software ‘Peagasus’ estimated to be worth $7-8 million
Around 1,400 journalists and activists from all over the world, including India had their WhatsApp account snooped on. WhatsApp has given this information in the US Federal Court itself. WhatsApp has accused a company called NSO of Israel for creating WhatsApp software spying software (spyware) Peagasus. WhatsApp said in a statement that it was spied on due to a vulnerability in the calling feature of the WhatsApp app. Now the question is, what is Peagasus software, what is the cost of its license, what can it do, what device can be hacked with the help of it?
According to a report published in the Economics Times, the price of Pegasus software is $ 7-8 million, which is about 56 crore, 56 lakh, 40 thousand rupees. Peagasus software is licensed for one year at this price. On one license, you can monitor 500 phones a year. Through Peagasus, 50 mobile phones can be monitored instantly. Peagasus software can also format the phone of the user apart from switching it on / off without the permission of the user. In the WhatsApp hacking case, hackers created accounts with different numbers to target people who were active in countries such as Brazil, Israel, Sweden and Indonesia. Peagasus used WhatsApp’s server to hack WhatsApp.
Who developed dangerous WhatsApp hacking software like Peagasus
Peagasus software is developed by a group called NSO of Israel. In February this year, NSO was acquired by its management Francisco partner. Francisco Partner’s co-founder is Dipanjan Dev, while NSO’s co-founders are Shalev Hulio and Omri Lavie. It is the NSO Group that has built Peagasus. The group claims that it has created the software to help the government so that the government and security agencies can tackle activities like terrorism. The group was founded in 2010 by three friends as a cyber security intelligence firm. Those who started it are Shalev Hulio Niv Karmi and Omri Lavie.
NSO group always under suspicion
This is not the first time the Israeli NSO group is being suspected. Earlier, human rights organizations say Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were among spyware clients of Israeli companies. NSO is also named in this list. The smartphone of the famous journalist Jamal Khashogi, who was killed in the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Istanbul, was also tracked through Peagasus software. There has been a lot of discussion in local media that some countries have even used the spyware Peagasus of NSO to kill their political opponents. The Financial Times reported in its report that Rwanda’s government also used it a lot.
What did the NSO say in its explanation?
The Israeli cyber intelligence company NSO, in its response, has denied the allegations leveled against it and said that it will fight back strongly against these allegations. The statement issued by the NSO reads, “We strongly refute the allegations and will fight against them. The sole purpose of the NSO is to help licensed government intelligence and law enforcement agencies fight terrorism and serious crime.” Technology has to be given. Our technology is not designed to be used against human rights activists and journalists, nor is it permitted. Our technology has helped save thousands of lives in recent years. “
