All posts tagged: spyware

From Pegasus Spyware To Nissan Chief Escape & The Consulate Assassination

From Pegasus Spyware To Nissan Chief Escape & The Consulate Assassination

Published by Webster

Mammootty & Mohanlal’s Patriot (Photo Credit –Facebook) Patriot, a major spy action political thriller written and directed by Mahesh Narayanan, is a globe-trotting, big-budget venture starring Mammootty, Mohanlal, Fahadh Faasil, Kunchacko Boban, Nayanthara, and Revathi. Despite featuring some of Malayalam cinema’s most prominent A-listers, it didn’t live up to the expectations of the Malayali audience. Let’s take a look at some of the real-life incidents that inspired the world of Patriot. 1. NSO Pegasus Spyware In the film, Periscope is essentially a fictionalized version of the real-world Pegasus spyware developed by Israel’s NSO Group. Sold exclusively to governments worldwide, Pegasus can target both iOS and Android devices. At one point, it reportedly relied on sophisticated zero-click exploits to infiltrate certain versions of iOS without any user interaction. In India, the spyware was allegedly used to surveil prominent journalists, opposition leaders, and several influential figures linked to the opposition, as per Scroll. 2. Chinese Social Credit System The film briefly references a social credit system designed to monitor the online activities of Indian citizens and assign …

Pakistan-Linked Hackers Targeting Indian Military, Govt Systems With AI-Based Spyware: Sources | India News

Pakistan-Linked Hackers Targeting Indian Military, Govt Systems With AI-Based Spyware: Sources | India News

Published by Webster

Last Updated:November 07, 2025, 13:53 IST India’s intelligence agencies have warned of a major cyber-espionage campaign by Pakistan-linked group Transparent Tribe, which is targeting government and military systems. An AI-generate image to represent a digital fraud (News18) India’s intelligence agencies have sounded an alarm over a major cyber-espionage campaign orchestrated by a Pakistan-linked hacker group known as Transparent Tribe, which is actively targeting government and military computers using an advanced spyware called DeskRAT. According to top intelligence sources, the group has significantly upgraded its capabilities this year, shifting from public cloud-based delivery systems like Google Drive to dedicated private servers, making its operations harder to trace and block. Officials said the hackers are exploiting border tensions in Ladakh and are attempting to monitor China’s military movements by infiltrating critical Indian systems. The attackers are using official-looking emails, ZIP archives, and documents that mimic government notices or intelligence briefings to trick officials into installing the malicious software. The deception is often timed with protests, security alerts, or border incidents, when officials are most likely to open …

Meta awarded 7.25 million over Pegasus spyware attack

Meta awarded $167.25 million over Pegasus spyware attack

Published by Webster

NSO Group, the Israeli spyware-maker behind Pegasus, must pay Meta $167.25 million for hacking 1,400 users across WhatsApp. A federal jury in California made the decision on Tuesday after the court found the NSO Group liable for the attacks last year. Meta sued NSO Group in 2019 after Citizen Lab found a vulnerability that allowed the spyware vendor to install Pegasus through a phone call – even if users didn’t pick up. Pegasus could then turn on a user’s camera and microphone, look through emails and text messages, and access location information. The hack targeted activists, journalists, diplomats, and others. Apple has also sued the NSO Group for targeting iPhone users with Pegasus. The jury also awarded Meta $444,719 in compensatory damages. “Today’s verdict in WhatsApp’s case is an important step forward for privacy and security as the first victory against the development and use of illegal spyware that threatens the safety and privacy of everyone,” Meta said in an announcement. “The jury’s decision to force NSO, a notorious foreign spyware merchant, to pay damages …

What’s wrong if country using spyware against terrorists: Supreme Court on Pegasus row

What’s wrong if country using spyware against terrorists: Supreme Court on Pegasus row

Published by Webster

Pegasus row: The controversy surrounding alleged use of the Israeli spyware to surveil opposition leaders, journalists and activists came to light in 2021, prompting several people to move the top court. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday questioned what objection there could be to using the Israeli spyware Pegasus ‘against terrorists,’ after probe panel filed a report on the issue and said any findings related to national ‘security and sovereignty’ would remain confidential and not be disclosed to the public. A bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice N Kotiswar Singh indicated it may address individual apprehensions of privacy breach but the report of the technical committee was no document to discuss “on the streets”. What did the Supreme Court say? The bench said, “Any report which touches the security and sovereignty of the country will not be touched. But individuals who want to know whether they are included that can be informed. Yes, individual apprehension must be addressed, but it cannot be made a document for discussion on the streets.” The controversy over …

WhatsApp Says Spyware Company Paragon Targeted Users in Two Dozen Countries

WhatsApp Says Spyware Company Paragon Targeted Users in Two Dozen Countries

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An official with Meta Platforms’ popular WhatsApp chat service said Israeli spyware company Paragon Solutions had targeted scores of its users, including journalists and members of civil society. The official said on Friday that WhatsApp had sent Paragon a cease-and-desist letter following the hack. In a statement, WhatsApp said the company “will continue to protect people’s ability to communicate privately.” Paragon declined to comment. The WhatsApp official told Reuters it had detected an effort to hack approximately 90 users. The official declined to say who, specifically, was targeted. But he said those targeted were based in more than two dozen countries, including several people in Europe. He said WhatsApp users were sent malicious electronic documents that required no user interaction to compromise their targets, a so-called zero-click hack that is considered particularly stealthy. The official said WhatsApp had since disrupted the hacking effort and was referring targets to Canadian internet watchdog group Citizen Lab. The official declined to discuss how it determined that Paragon was responsible for the hack. He said law enforcement and industry …

WhatsApp disrupts spyware campaign targeting journalists

WhatsApp disrupts spyware campaign targeting journalists

Published by Webster

WhatsApp says it disrupted a spyware campaign last month that targeted journalists and civil society members, according to reports from The Guardian and Reuters. The campaign originated from an Israeli spyware company called Paragon Solutions and impacted around 90 users. WhatsApp told The Guardian that it has reached out to affected users, saying it had “high confidence” that they were targeted and “possibly compromised.” The Meta-owned app also sent a cease-and-desist order to Paragon and is “exploring its legal options,” The Guardian reports. Paragon, which Reuters called a competitor to Pegasus maker NSO Group, bills itself as an “ethical” cyber defense company. It was acquired by the Florida-based private investment firm AE Industrial Partners last year, while a recent report from Wired revealed that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement signed a $2 million contract with Paragon in September 2024. “This is the latest example of why spyware companies must be held accountable for their unlawful actions,” WhatsApp said in a statement to The Guardian. “WhatsApp will continue to protect people’s ability to communicate privately.” WhatsApp …

Israeli spyware maker NSO found liable in WhatsApp hacking lawsuit | Latest News India

Israeli spyware maker NSO found liable in WhatsApp hacking lawsuit | Latest News India

Published by Parlour News

In a significant first, a Californian court found Israeli spyware maker NSO Group liable for hacking WhatsApp’s servers in a lawsuit brought by the Meta-owned platform in 2019. The court will now determine the damages. After WhatsApp’s lawsuit, the company in June 2021 had started releasing a transparency and accountability report (REUTERS) The district court of Northern District of California concluded that the NSO Group had violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), the California Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act (CDAFA) and Californian Penal Code, and breached its contract with WhatsApp by using it to send “harmful code” and for using WhatsApp for illegal purposes. In its lawsuit, which was the first of its kind where a Silicon Valley giant had sought to hold a company from Israel’s powerful hacking industry accountable, the Meta-owned end-to-end encrypted platform had said that NSO Group’s Pegasus was used to infect mobile phones of about 1400 people across the world. These included at least 121 Indians, including many linked Bhima Koregaon case including Surendra Gadling’s lawyer, …

Pegasus spyware maker NSO Group is liable for attacks on 1,400 WhatsApp users

Pegasus spyware maker NSO Group is liable for attacks on 1,400 WhatsApp users

Published by Webster

NSO Group, the organization behind the Pegasus spyware, has been found liable in a lawsuit brought by Meta’s WhatsApp over attacks on about 1,400 devices, as reported by The Record. NSO Group is liable for charges of violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, violation of the California Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act, and breach of contract, according to today’s ruling. A trial will now move forward “only on the issue of damages.” The spyware maker has argued that it isn’t liable because Pegasus was operated by clients investigating crimes and cases of national security but the judge rejected those arguments, which could establish a precedent for other companies in the same business. “This ruling is a huge win for privacy,” Will Cathcart, the head of WhatsApp, says in a Threads post. “We spent five years presenting our case because we firmly believe that spyware companies could not hide behind immunity or avoid accountability for their unlawful actions. Surveillance companies should be on notice that illegal spying will not be tolerated.” NSO …

CloudSEK Report Highlights the Surge of the Fake Pegasus Spyware Following Apple’s Threat Notifications

Published by Webster

CloudSEK, a cybersecurity firm, led an investigation after Apple’s threat notifications were sent out to iPhone users in 92 countries last month, and found that soon after the advisory was released, the deep and dark web saw a rise of fake Pegasus spyware. Notably, Apple did not name any threat actors in association with its warning, but it did mention Pegasus spyware from the NSO group as an example. CloudSEK believes this could have led to scammers selling fraudulent malware as Pegasus source code. Details of CloudSEK’s investigation After Apple’s warning in April, CloudSEK researchers began delving into the deep and dark web, as well as the surface web to see whether authentic Pegasus spyware was available to purchase or if fraudsters were using its name to swindle potential buyers. In a report titled “Behind the Advisory: Decoding Apple’s Alert and Spyware Dilemma”, the cybersecurity firm stated that it frequented Internet Relay Chat (IRC) platforms. After analysing approximately 25,000 posts on Telegram, researchers found that a major portion of the posts claimed to sell authentic …

Apple Alerts iPhone Users to Mercenary Spyware Attacks

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Apple sent a threat notification to iPhone users in 92 countries on April 10 informing them that their device was “being targeted by a mercenary spyware attack.” The alert, sent at 12:00 p.m. Pacific Time, told recipients that the attackers were attempting to “remotely compromise” their phone and that they were likely being targeted specifically “because of who you are or what you do.” Apple’s notification did not identify the alleged attackers, nor did it specify the locations of its recipients. iPhone users who have received the mercenary spyware attack alert should enlist expert cybersecurity help, Apple stated on its dedicated support page. What did Apple’s latest threat notification say? The emailed message has been seen by TechCrunch and Reuters. It reportedly reads: “Apple detected that you are being targeted by a mercenary spyware attack that is trying to remotely compromise the iPhone associated with your Apple ID -xxx-, “This attack is likely targeting you specifically because of who you are or what you do. Although it’s never possible to achieve absolute certainty when detecting …