PEGASUS SPYWARE

Diving in..

The Israeli spyware, revealed to have been used to target hundreds of phones in India, has grown less reliant on clicks. Pegasus can infect a device without the target’s engagement or knowledge. It is a malware that infects iPhones as well as Android devices to enable operators of the tool to extract messages, capture photos, read emails, record and access live calls and even secretly activate microphones.

"How this got us in fits"

As by the Times of Developers of the "Pegasus" software, the NSO Group, originally licenced it to governments to track terrorists and criminals. It has been claimed that even a missed video call on WhatsApp could give Pegasus complete access to the user’s smartphones.

Can it be detected?

It enabled opening up of the handsets and the operator installing the spyware on the device without the owner’s knowledge.

This resulted in the hacker accessing the user’s data including passwords, calendar events, text messages and even live voice calls from messaging apps.

How to keep our devices safe?

1. Regular users can stay up to date with operating system updates and security patch released by device manufacturers.

2. Public figures can change headsets periodically, as the attacker will have to successfully infect the new device each time.

3. You should limit physical access to your phone. Do this by enabling pin, finger or face-locking on the device.

At the end..

The Pegasus’s code tries to gain the root privileges and becomes the device administrator via vulnerabilities found in various applications we use. One of the most common ways to identify the threat is a drop in the performance. If a website is taking too long to upload or if your apps are suddenly crashing when you use them, then there maybe a malware hogging your phone’s bandwidth or the processing power.

Fun Fact: Pegasus is perhaps The Most Powerful Spyware ever created.