Jerusalem: Amid the raging controversy over its surveillance software Pegasus, Israeli cybersecurity company NSO Group has defended itself, saying millions of people around the world sleep well at night and walk in the streets safely due to such technologies available with intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
The company also stated that it did not operate the technology nor did it have access to the data collected by its clients. The alleged use of the Pegasus software to spy on journalists, human rights defenders, politicians and others in a number of countries, including India, has triggered concerns over issues relating to privacy.
Politicians, rights activists and journalists were among those targeted with phone spyware sold to various governments by the Israeli firm, according to an international media consortium.
“Millions of people around the world are sleeping well at night, and safely walking in the streets, thanks to Pegasus and similar technologies that help intelligence agencies and law enforcement agencies around the world to prevent and investigate crime, terrorism, and paedophilia rings that are hiding under the umbrella of end-to-end encryption apps,” a spokesperson for NSO said.
“NSO, together with many of the other cyber intelligence companies in the world, provides cyber intelligence tools for governments because law enforcement agencies around the world are in the dark and there’s no regulatory solution that allows them to monitor malicious acts on instant messaging and social media”, the company said.
The company also stated that it did not operate the technology nor did it have access to the data collected by its clients. The alleged use of the Pegasus software to spy on journalists, human rights defenders, politicians and others in a number of countries, including India, has triggered concerns over issues relating to privacy.
Politicians, rights activists and journalists were among those targeted with phone spyware sold to various governments by the Israeli firm, according to an international media consortium.
“Millions of people around the world are sleeping well at night, and safely walking in the streets, thanks to Pegasus and similar technologies that help intelligence agencies and law enforcement agencies around the world to prevent and investigate crime, terrorism, and paedophilia rings that are hiding under the umbrella of end-to-end encryption apps,” a spokesperson for NSO said.
“NSO, together with many of the other cyber intelligence companies in the world, provides cyber intelligence tools for governments because law enforcement agencies around the world are in the dark and there’s no regulatory solution that allows them to monitor malicious acts on instant messaging and social media”, the company said.
France’s Emmanuel Macron changes phone over Pegasus scandal
Paris: French President Emmanuel Macron has changed his mobile phone and phone number in light of the Pegasus spyware case, a presidency official said, in one of the first concrete actions announced in relation to the scandal.
“He’s got several phone numbers. This does not mean he has been spied on. It’s just additional security,” the official told Reuters. Government spokesman Gabriel Attal said the president’s security protocols were being adapted in light of the incident.
US says technology use against civil society, regime critics concerning
Washington: The US has said it is against the use of spying technology on civil society, regime critics and journalists, even as it maintained that it has no particular insight into the Pegasus issue in India.
“The whole notion of using this type of technology against civil society, or regime critics, or journalists, or anybody like that through extrajudicial means is always concerning,” US’s Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Dean Thompson told reporters during a news conference in Washington. Last Sunday, an international media consortium reported that over 300 verified mobile phone numbers, including of two ministers, over 40 journalists, three Opposition leaders and one sitting judge besides scores of businesspersons and activists in India could have been targeted for hacking through the Pegasus spyware.
Paris: French President Emmanuel Macron has changed his mobile phone and phone number in light of the Pegasus spyware case, a presidency official said, in one of the first concrete actions announced in relation to the scandal.
“He’s got several phone numbers. This does not mean he has been spied on. It’s just additional security,” the official told Reuters. Government spokesman Gabriel Attal said the president’s security protocols were being adapted in light of the incident.
US says technology use against civil society, regime critics concerning
Washington: The US has said it is against the use of spying technology on civil society, regime critics and journalists, even as it maintained that it has no particular insight into the Pegasus issue in India.
“The whole notion of using this type of technology against civil society, or regime critics, or journalists, or anybody like that through extrajudicial means is always concerning,” US’s Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Dean Thompson told reporters during a news conference in Washington. Last Sunday, an international media consortium reported that over 300 verified mobile phone numbers, including of two ministers, over 40 journalists, three Opposition leaders and one sitting judge besides scores of businesspersons and activists in India could have been targeted for hacking through the Pegasus spyware.
We have two agenda items: Citizen’s data privacy and security and cybersecurity. This ‘’Pegasus Project’’ issue comes under these agendas. The standing committee has the right to question government secretaries. We demand a sitting Supreme Court judge-led judicial probe.”
Shashi Tharoor, Chairperson of the parliamentary Standing Committee on IT
‘Not even junior writer would…”: BJP mocks Rahul Gandhi phone-tap charge
New Delhi: The BJP dared Rahul Gandhi to submit his phone for investigation if he believes it was tapped, and asserted that no one’s phone has been tapped illegally by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government.BJP spokesperson Rajyavardhan Rathore told reporters that the Congress is determined to stall Parliament for one reason or another after being rejected twice by people in Lok Sabha polls of 2014 and 2019. He also took a swipe at Gandhi, saying even a “junior copy writer” will not be interested in copying his phone’s content as the Congress leader has nothing “original” to offer. Amid a row over the suspected Pegasus snooping, Gandhi had said earlier in the day that all his phones were tapped. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah allegedly used the Pegasus spyware against India and its institutions, and “the only word for this is treason”, Gandhi alleged.AGENCIES
New Delhi: The BJP dared Rahul Gandhi to submit his phone for investigation if he believes it was tapped, and asserted that no one’s phone has been tapped illegally by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government.BJP spokesperson Rajyavardhan Rathore told reporters that the Congress is determined to stall Parliament for one reason or another after being rejected twice by people in Lok Sabha polls of 2014 and 2019. He also took a swipe at Gandhi, saying even a “junior copy writer” will not be interested in copying his phone’s content as the Congress leader has nothing “original” to offer. Amid a row over the suspected Pegasus snooping, Gandhi had said earlier in the day that all his phones were tapped. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah allegedly used the Pegasus spyware against India and its institutions, and “the only word for this is treason”, Gandhi alleged.AGENCIES
