Pegasus (spyware)

Pegasus is surveillance software developed by the , which is headquartered , Israel. The CEO of NSO is Shalev Hulio. The name of the software is derived from its functionality as a "trojan horse" that can infect wireless devices over the air.Pegasus, the Most Terrifying Spyware with an Ancient Greek Name by Theo Ioannou, Greek Reporter. 2021-10-03.
==Description==
Pegasus is used by the for domestic surveillance.Israeli police use NSO Group's Pegasus to spy on citizens without a warrant by Mike Peterson, AppleInsider. 2022-01-18.
NSO claims that its software has saved "countless lives", but Pegasus has been found to be spying on officials of the European Union, including , the prime minister of Spain. It was also discovered to have targeted the devices of , the prime minister of France, and the family of journalist before his in October 2018. Pegasus uses a variety of attacks to exploit vulnerabilities in Android or iOS to gain access to users' devices.Spanish prime minister's mobile phone infected by Pegasus spyware, government says by Graham Keeley, Reuters. 2022-05-02.Cash-strapped Pegasus spyware developers wanted to sell to 'red-flag' countries by William Gallagher, AppleInsider. 2022-06-01.
===History===
In 2019, the secretly purchased Pegasus from NSO Group for domestic surveillance from a facility in . The NSO had also tried to sell Phantom, a newer spyware tool which could hack U.S. phone numbers. However, after a change in administration in 2021, the United States government instead ed the NSO and decided against deploying Phantom in the U.S.FBI considered using Pegasus spyware for US domestic surveillance by William Gallagher, AppleInsider. 2022-01-28.
In November 2021, Apple sued the NSO Group for its spyware activities. By December 2021, the group was under such financial distress, that it was considering killing off Pegasus or potentially selling it to "red flag" authoritarian regimes. The , which represented investors in the NSO Group, refused to authorize such a transaction and loaned 10 million to an NSO subsidiary that was developing a . However, the funds were instead used to cover NSO's payroll.NSO considering killing Pegasus spyware under financial & lawsuit pressure by Malcolm Owen, AppleInsider. 2021-12-14.
===Apple security updates===
Apple urges users to update their devices to at least iOS 14.8, iPadOS 14.8, watchOS 7.6.2, macOS 11.6 (Big Sur), or the latest security update for macOS 10.15.7 (Catalina) to address vulnerabilities that had previously been exploited by Pegasus.Apple's security fix: Protect your iPhone from Pegasus now by Carrie Mihalcik and Bree Fowler, CNET. 2021-09-16. The free trial version of iMazing can be used to detect the presence of Pegasus spyware on a potentially infected device.Apple sues Pegasus for spyware maker. How to check if your iPhone has NSO Group software by Jason Cipriani, CNET. 2021-11-23.
==References==
==External links==
*NSO Group official website
*The Pegasus project (news series) at The Guardian
* and at Wikipedia
Category:Israel
Category:Trojan horses