Hyderabad: Pegasus is a spyware which was created by a Tel-Aviv based firm 'NSO Group' which was founded in the year 2010, wherein NSO forms the initials of its founders -Niv Carmi, Shalev Hulio and Omri Lavie. According to a global NGO, the firm was set up to develop a software that could assist law enforcement and intelligence agencies to access remote digital devices, bypassing digital encryption. However, the Group mentions that the product is for exclusive use by government agencies to counter crime and terror. As per a 2018 report by 'Citizen Lab' the spyware is allegedly being used in 45 countries including India, Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
The spyware which also goes by other names such as 'Q Suite' and 'Trident' infects a phone through website link or WhatsApp call and mostly uses a text message with a phishing link to lure its victim and thereby steal passwords, contacts, text messages and photos. For this, NSO had allegedly even created fake WhatsApp groups, reports say. As soon as the link is clicked upon, the covert software gets silently downloaded in the background sans victim's knowledge, thereby facilitating the hacker to take control of the device. Thereafter, the hacker ensures that he gets the needed information from the victim's device, by issuing directions to the spyware.
Read: Pegasus spyware row: Centre says 'No Unauthorized Surveillance'
What makes Pegasus an ultimate spyware is that it can access - passwords, contact lists, calendar events, text messages, live voice calls, encrypted audio streams, phone's camera, microphone, GPS and even encrypted messages. Now, another significant aspect of this spyware is its capability to self destruct within '60-days' if it is not able to establish contact with the hackers' server or in case it is installed on another device with a wrong SIM. Also, it has the ability to evade forensic analysis and cannot be detected by an antivirus.
