About Pegasus Spyware Researchers discovered the earliest | Daily Current Affairs & GS

About Pegasus Spyware

Researchers discovered the earliest version of Pegasus in 2016.

This version infected phones through what is called spear-phishing – text messages or emails that trick a target into clicking on a malicious link.

In 2019, WhatsApp blamed the NSO Group for exploiting a vulnerability in its video-calling feature which secretly transmitted malicious code in an effort to infect the victim’s phone with spyware without the person even having to answer the call.

In India, several opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi were on the leaked potential targets’ list.

This is the first time in the history of this country that all pillars of our democracy — judiciary, parliamentarians, media, executives and ministers — have been spied upon.