How would you feel if someone says that you are being tapped 24/7 , someone is reading all your messages, accessing to all your private datas , recording you. Pretty sure everyone would be spooked out . This is what Pegasus project of Amnesty International claims.

What is Pegasus??

Pegasus has been derived from Greek mythology . It symbolizes a white horse with wings . But today Pegasus is a dangerous virus which can access your phone , steal your data and sell it to someone else. For this virus to enter your phone , you doesn’t have to click on any links , just a misscall is enough to infiltrate your phone.

Who developed this spyware and why?

This spyware was developed by NSO , an Israeli cyberarm firm . The actual motive behind this was to track down terrorist and criminals. This software is only sold to government. Maxican government confirmed that they used Pegasus spyware to capture Maxican druglord El Chappo.

What is the cost of installing this software?

Over half a million dollars ie over 3.5 crore rupees cost as installation fees and almost $650000 ie almost 5 crore to spy on just 10 Android or iPhone users. And hundreds of thousand dollars more for additional surveillance target.

What its relevance today??

Amnesty International with many others carried out Pegasus Project and alleged that many governments have been using this spyware to tap illegally its citizens. They listed out 50000 phone numbers in which pegasus infiltrated, or tried to, or are its potential targets. This list includes many known political leaders, media houses, journalist, lawyers and scholars.France’s President Macron charged his phone eversince his name was on the list.

This project alleged that countries like Togo, Rwanda ,Morocco, Saudi Arabia,Bahrain ,UAE,Azarbaizan,Kagakhstan,Mexico ,Hungary and India have used this spyware to spy on its citizens. It is important to note that this report clearly claims that just because numbers appears on the list it doesn’t means that their phone were attacked, its only suspicions.Many countries have already started investigation.

Though this project has not been proved right yet, this is a serious issue that needs to be addressed. It is terrifying just to know that such software even exist.