A few days ago, another wave of discussions took place in the media about cybersecurity and fears of the all-seeing “Big Brother”. Pegasus spyware, developed by the Israeli NSO Group for law enforcement and security services, was to blame. It has been shown that it is used to monitor people around the world.
According to cybersecurity experts, at least 50,000 devices worldwide have been infected. Pegasus is no spyware cutter: it allows you to take complete control of an infected device, and thus secretly read correspondence, eavesdrop on calls, or view photos and videos.
Popular Pegasus antivirus programs have not been discovered because this spyware exploits vulnerabilities not known to operating system and antivirus application developers. The solution came, perhaps unexpectedly, from the human rights organization Amnesty International. Its application that can identify Pegasus is called MVT (short for mobile authentication tool) and its code is available through a digital depository GitHub.
MVT is compatible with both Anroid and iOS, but installation is not as easy as with classic applications. You have to compile the program first, which can be done only by more advanced users and programmers.
The tool copies your device’s data to your computer, scans it, and checks your device for Pegasus. The MVT examines data transmission protocols where they are most likely to detect signs of infection. This information is stored on iOS for longer than on Android, making it easier to detect Pegasus on iPhones.
Israeli spyware is designed to target victims. It does not infect just any device, but only the smartphones of specific people whose activities are of interest to those sitting on the other side of the screen. Among the confirmed goals are, for example, a number of investigative journalists or critics of governments that violate human rights.
However, people who have something to offer financially or influentially, such as politicians or important businessmen, can also be targeted. Although it was Pegasus that recently made headlines, it is important to remember that Pegasus is not a unique tool.
Hundreds of other similar spy applications continue to work, and many of them are in the gray zone, posing as parental control tools, for example. It is still true that prudence is maximally appropriate in cyberspace.
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