Jakarta –
iPhone which boasts of its security and privacy features, has been successfully infiltrated by spyware Pegasus made by an Israeli company, NSO Group. bunch WhatsApp Will Cathcart also gave advice for Apple to deal with this spyware.
Pegasus returned to the discussion after Amnesty International revealed a list containing thousands of phone numbers suspected of being the target of the spyware. Some of these numbers belong to presidents, ministers, activists and journalists.
WhatsApp itself is also very familiar with the Pegasus spyware. In 2019, 1,400 WhatsApp users were targeted by the Pegasus spyware, to the point that the messaging app sued NSO Group.
In an interview with The Guardian, Cathcart praised Microsoft and other technology companies for revealing the dangers of malware. He then asked Apple to take similar steps.
“I hope Apple will take that approach as well. Speak loudly, join in,” Cathcart said as quoted by The Guardian, Tuesday (27/7/2021).
“It’s not enough to just say most of our users don’t need to worry. It’s not enough to just say ‘oh this only has thousands or tens of thousands of victims’.”
“If it affects journalists around the world, it affects human rights defenders around the world, it affects all of us. And if any cell phone isn’t safe, everyone’s phone isn’t safe,” he added.
Cathcart says it sees parallels between Pegasus attacks on users WhatsApp with a report published by Amnesty International. He also said he had discussed with governments around the world about the Pegasus spyware attack on Whatsapp users.
The main client buying Pegasus from the NSO Group is the government to monitor cell phones belonging to terrorist groups or criminals. This spyware can steal various data from cellphones such as messages, photos, emails, phone records, to activate the microphone.
Going forward, Cathcart is asking governments around the world to create a system that can create creators spyware responsible for his creation.
“NSO Group claims that many governments are buying their software, which means that government, even if their use is more controlled, that government is funding this,” Cathcart said.
“Should they stop? Should there be a discussion about what government is buying this software,” he concluded.
Watch Videos”WhatsApp can now be used on 4 devices at once, here are the facts…“
[Gambas:Video 20detik]
(vmp/afr)
– .
