News Analysis India

Tag: Pegasus spyware

  • Congress leader Shashi Tharoor seeks SC judge-monitored probe into Pegasus snooping allegations

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday demanded a Supreme Court judge-monitored probe into the Pegasus snooping allegations and indicated that opposition parties would continue to disrupt Parliament’s proceedings until the government agrees to a debate on it.

    He alleged that it appears that the government used public money for snooping for its “selfish political interests”.

    Last week, an international media consortium reported that over 300 verified mobile phone numbers, including those of two ministers, over 40 journalists, three opposition leaders besides scores of businesspersons and activists in India, could have been targeted for snooping through the Pegasus spyware of the Israeli firm NSO Group, which only sells the hacking software to “vetted” governments and government agencies.

    The government has been denying all opposition allegations in the matter.

    Speaking to reporters in the Parliament complex after the Lok Sabha was adjourned, Tharoor said, “We want the government to agree to a debate on the issue, but it is not ready. What we are saying is that if you (government) do not agree to this and answer our questions, then why we should allow you to transact your business.”

    He said other issues like price rise and contentious farm laws are also important for the opposition but the Pegasus row is a priority.

    Both Houses of Parliament have transacted little business since the Monsoon session began on July 19 as opposition parties have forced adjournments with their protests over a number of issues with the Pegasus row being the main one.

    Tharoor also made light of IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw’s statement on the issue in both Houses, saying he just shared his “Mann Ki Baat” without listening to the opposition. Vaishnaw had termed the snooping stories a bid to malign India, claiming that there is “no substance” to this sensationalism.

    The parliamentary panel on information technology led by Tharoor is likely to question top government officials, including from the home ministry, later this week on Pegasus snooping allegations, according to sources.

    The 32-member Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information and Technology is scheduled to meet on July 28. The agenda of the meeting is “Citizens data security and privacy”, according to a notification issued by Lok Sabha Secretariat.

  • Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut questions Pegasus funding, compares it with Hiroshima bombing

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday asked who funded the alleged snooping of politicians and journalists by Pegasus and compared it with the Hiroshima bombing, saying while the attack on the Japanese city had resulted in death of people, the spying by the Israeli software led to “death of freedom”.

    “The modern technology has taken us back to slavery,” Raut said in his weekly column ‘Rokhthok’ in the Sena mouthpiece Saamana. He said the Pegasus case is “no different from the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima”.

    “People died in Hiroshima, while in the Pegasus case, it led to the death of freedom,” he claimed.

    READ EDITORIAL | No place for Centre to hide on Pegasus snoopgate

    He said politicians, industrialists, and social activists fear they are being spied upon, and even the judiciary and media are under the same pressure.

    “The atmosphere of freedom in the national capital ended a few years ago,” said Raut, who is the executive editor of Saamana. He also sought to know who paid for the alleged snooping by the Israeli spyware.

    Quoting a media report, he said the Israeli company NSO charged Rs 60 crore annually as license (fee) for the Pegasus software. By way of one license, 50 phones can be hacked. Hence, to tap 300 phones, six to seven licenses are required, the Rajya Sabha member said.

    ALSO READ | Pegasus: French President Macron calls Israeli PM Bennett on allegations of snooping

    “Was so much money spent? Who paid for it? The NSO says it sells its software only to governments. If it is so, which government in India purchased the software? Rs 300 crore were spent for spying on 300 people in India. Does our country have the capacity to spend so much money on spying?” Raut asked.

    He also said BJP leader (and former Union IT minister) Ravishankar Prasad had justified spying by saying 45 countries in the world used Pegasus.

    Raut, whose party shares power with the NCP and Congress in Maharashtra, claimed that journalists who criticised the Modi government were snooping targets.

    An international media consortium had recently reported that several verified mobile phone numbers, including of some ministers, journalists, opposition leaders, and scores of business persons and activists in India could have been targeted for hacking using Pegasus software/spyware.

    The government has, however, dismissed allegations of any kind of surveillance on its part on specific people, saying it “has no concrete basis or truth associated with it whatsoever”.

  • After removal as CBI chief, 8 phones of Alok Verma, kin listed for Pegasus snooping, claims report 

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Eight phones of the then CBI director Alok Verma and his family members were put in the list of devices targeted for snooping using Pegasus spyware by an unknown Indian agency soon after he was divested of the coveted charge on October 23, 2018, The Wire reported on Thursday.

    Along with Verma, phones of his second-in-command Special Director Rakesh Asthana, against whom he had registered a corruption case on October 21, 2018, and the then Joint Director A K Sharma were also put on the list for surveillance using sophisticated malware, it said.

    According to the report, eight phones belonging to Verma family, including three of him along with those of his wife, daughter and son-in-law were put in the list of persons of interest targeted by the Israeli snooping malware.

    All these numbers, including that of Asthana and Sharma, remained in the list for a short period till Verma retired from service on January 31, 2019.

    They were taken off the list in February, 2019, it said.

    Israeli group NSO insists the leaked database accessed by French non-profit media organisation Forbidden Stories has nothing to do with it or its software Pegasus which is being used by “vetted governments”.

    The government and the ruling BJP have dismissed the Pegasus Project reports as concocted and evidence-less.

    Law and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, whose own phone number was among those listed as compromised, said in a statement in Parliament on Thursday that the reports are “attempt to malign the Indian democracy and its well-established institutions”.

    According to The Wire, which is one of the 15 international media organisations with whom the database was shared, Verma declined to participate in the story hence forensic examination of his phones, the only way to establish if they were successfully infected with the snooping malware, could not be carried out.

    Questions seeking reactions of Verma, Asthana and Sharma remained unanswered.

    While Verma and Sharma have retired from the service, Asthana is the chief of Border Security Force which guards the sensitive borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh.

    Verma and Asthana were sent on forced leave in an unprecedented order of the Centre in late night of October 23, 2018.

    The order divesting Verma of CBI director’s post, which has a two-years fixed tenure, was issued nearly three months before he was scheduled to complete his tenure on January 31, 2019.

    The controversial directive which was reversed by the Supreme Court later was issued two days after Verma booked Asthana in corruption charges and conducted searches.

    Later, Asthana was cleared of all charges by the CBI which probed allegations against him.

    On Sunday, an international media consortium reported that over 300 verified mobile phone numbers, including of two ministers, over 40 journalists, three opposition leaders and one sitting judge besides scores of businesspersons and activists in India could have been targeted for hacking through the spyware.

    A French non-profit media group Forbidden Stories accessed a leaked database comprising 50,000 numbers believed to be linked to potential targets of Pegasus.

    The database was shared with 15 other media partners across the globe including The Wire in India.

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  • Industrialist Anil Ambani among potential Pegasus spyware targets: Report

    The number for Dassault Aviation #39;s representative in India, Venkata Rao Posina, former Saab India head Inderjit Sial and Boeing India boss Pratyush Kumar also appear in the leaked database.

  • Dalai Lama’s advisers, NSCN leaders listed as potential targets of Pegasus: Reports

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Top ring of advisers around the Dalai Lama and several leaders of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) are among those listed as potential targets of Israeli spyware Pegasus, an international media consortium reported on Thursday.

    In the continuing series of reports on revelations from the international collaborative journalistic investigation called the Pegasus Project, the Wire has reported that phone numbers of multiple people close to Dubai Princess Sheikha Latifa, who was captured by Indian soldiers in 2018, were added to a list of potential targets for surveillance.

    According to a report in The Guardian, the phone numbers of the top ring of advisers around the Dalai Lama are believed to have been selected as those of people of interest by government clients of NSO Group.

    “Analysis strongly indicates that the Indian government was selecting the potential targets. Other phone numbers apparently selected by Delhi were those of the president of the government-in-exile, Lobsang Sangay, staff in the office of another Buddhist spiritual leader, the Gyalwang Karmapa, and several other activists and clerics who are part of the exiled community in India,” it claimed.

    “Senior advisers to the Dalai Lama whose numbers appear in the data include Tempa Tsering, the spiritual leader’s long-time envoy to Delhi, and the senior aides Tenzin Taklha and Chhimey Rigzen, as well as Samdhong Rinpoche, the head of the trust that has been tasked with overseeing the selection of the Buddhist leader’s successor,” the report added.

    The Pegasus spyware was created by Israeli technology firm NSO.

    The government has dismissed the reports on the use of Pegasus software to snoop on Indians, saying the allegations levelled just ahead of the Monsoon session of Parliament are aimed at “maligning Indian democracy”.

    In a separate report by the Wire, the phone numbers of several top leaders of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak Muivah), NSCN (I-M) were added to a list of numbers of persons of interest believed to be generated by an Indian client of the Israeli spyware company.

    “In the aftermath of the August 2015 framework agreement, which is intended to resolve the six-decade-old Naga political issue, the NSCN (I-M) has been in talks with the Modi government to flesh out the details of a final settlement.

    Among the top leaders of the NSCN (I-M) whose phone numbers have been found in the leaked database are that of Atem Vashum, Apam Muivah, Anthony Shimray and Phunthing Shimrang.

    “The leaked records also shows that N.Kitovi Zhimomi, convenor of the Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs), with which the Modi government is also in parleys to find ‘one solution’ to the Naga issue since end 2017, was selected as a possible candidate for surveillance towards the end of 2017,” the Wire report said.

    In another report, the Wire said, after princess Sheikha Latifa fled Dubai – where her father, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, is the ruler – her closest relatives and friends had their telephone numbers added to a list of potential targets of a military-grade spyware.

    “Latifa’s own number was added just before she fled but she had ditched her phone in Dubai before slipping across to Oman.

    While the UAE authorities had multiple methods of surveillance at their disposal, the analysis of a leaked database highlights how her escape seems to have coincided with the inclusion of several numbers related to Latifa appearing on a list of potential Pegasus targets,” the report said.

    The reports have been published by The Wire in collaboration with 16 other international publications including the Washington Post, The Guardian and Le Monde, as media partners to an investigation conducted by Paris-based media non-profit organisation Forbidden Stories and rights group Amnesty International.

    The investigation focuses on a leaked list of more than 50,000 phone numbers from across the world that are believed to have been the target of surveillance through Pegasus software of Israeli surveillance company NSO Group.

  • Rajya Sabha proceedings adjourned twice amid opposition ruckus

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned twice on Thursday after opposition members tried to raise the issues of income tax raids on the newspaper group Dainik Bhaskar and alleged snooping using Pegasus spyware.

    As soon as the House assembled for the day, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh tried to raise the issue of raids against the media group in multiple cities.

    Other opposition members, including those from the TMC, rushed into the well of the House over reports about the Modi government allegedly targeting political rivals, journalists and critics for surveillance using Israeli company NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware.

    Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu first ordered that Singh’s remarks would not go on record and then asked members not to show placards.

    “I have not permitted you. You have to seek permission from me. Nothing shall go on record,” Naidu told Singh.

    “Members seem to be not interested in discussing people’s issues,” he said while appealing to members in the well of the House to go back to their respective seats.

    Rajya Sabha adjourned till 12 with opposition raising issues related to IT raids on #dainikbhaskar, farmer issues and issues related to Polavaram project @NewIndianXpress
    — richa sharma (@richa_TNIE) July 22, 2021

    “Please go back to your respective seats follow parliamentary practice, send a notice to me. Going by merit, I will allow you. What is this,” he remarked.

    “This is not the way,” he said and called for listed official papers to be laid on the table. But the members continued to protest, forcing Naidu to adjourn the proceedings. Just one listed paper could barely be laid before the proceedings were adjourned.

    “The House is adjourned as some members are disturbing the House,” he said.

    When the House reassembled at 12 noon, the opposition members continued with their protest even as Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh requested them allow the Question Hour.

    “Question Hour is important for members. Please go back to your seats,” he said.

    However, protesting members did not heed to his request and the House wad adjourned till 2pm.

  • Plea filed in SC seeking SIT probe into Pegasus snooping allegations

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: A petition has been filed before the Supreme Court seeking a court-monitored probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the reports of alleged snooping by government agencies using Israeli spyware Pegasus over journalists, activists, politicians and others.

    The petition, filed by advocate M L Sharma, said the Pegasus scandal was a matter of grave concern and a serious attack upon Indian democracy, judiciary and country’s security and the ‘widespread and unaccountable” use of surveillance is ‘morally disfiguring’.

    “Privacy is not about the wish to hide, as is often asserted. It is about having a space of one’s own where our thoughts and being are not the instrument of someone else’s purposes. It is an essential component of dignity and agency,” it said.

    The plea said the use Pegasus was not just eavesdropping on conversations but can be used to access the entire digital imprint of one’s life as it renders helpless not just the owner of the phone hacked but everyone who is in contact with him.

    Explainer: How to find out if your phone was infected with the Pegasus spyware

    The petition, which is likely to come up for hearing in the coming days, said the national security implications of the revelations were ‘enormous” as the ‘explosive growth” of surveillance technology vendors is a global security and human rights problem.

    The PIL claimed that around 50,000 phone numbers were believed to be targeted by clients of the company, NSO Group, since 2016, that was leaked to major news outlets.

    “Pegasus is not just a surveillance tool. It is a cyber weapon being unleashed on the Indian polity. Even if authorised (which is doubtful), the use of Pegasus poses a national security risk,” it said.

    It sought a direction to frame an SIT under the supervision of the top court for investigation into the scandal and to prosecute all accused persons and ministers for buying of Pegasus and alleged snooping of citizens of India, including judges, opposition leaders, political persons, activists, advocates and others, for vested political interests since 2017.

    The plea further sought to declare buying of Pegasus software for snooping illegal and unconstitutional.

  • Rajya Sabha proceedings adjourned till 12 noon after opposition ruckus

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned for an hour on Thursday after opposition members tried to raise the issues of income tax raids on the newspaper group Dainik Bhaskar and alleged snooping using Pegasus spyware.

    No sooner had the House assembled for the day, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh tried to raise the issue of raids against the media group in multiple cities.

    Other opposition members, including those from the TMC, rushed into the well of House over reports about the Modi government allegedly targeting political rivals, journalists and critics for surveillance using Israeli company NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware.

    Rajya Sabha adjourned till 12 with opposition raising issues related to IT raids on #dainikbhaskar, farmer issues and issues related to Polavaram project @NewIndianXpress
    — richa sharma (@richa_TNIE) July 22, 2021

    Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu first ordered that Singh’s remarks would not go on record and then asked members not to show placards.

    “I have not permitted you. You have to seek permission from me. Nothing shall go on record,” Naidu told Singh.

    “Members seem to be not interested in discussing people’s issues.”

    He appealed to members in the well of the House to go back to their respective seats.

    “Please go back to your respective seats follow the parliamentary practice, send a notice to me. Going by merit, I will allow you. What is this,” he remarked.

    “This is not the way,” he said and called for listed official papers to be laid on the table. But the members continued to protest, forcing Naidu to adjourn the proceedings. Just one listed paper could barely be laid before the proceedings were adjourned.

    “The House is adjourned as some members are disturbing the House,” he said.

  • Rajasthan Congress says Pegasus snooping case proved former CM Vasundhara Raje is sidelined

    Express News Service
    JAIPUR:  The ‘Pegasus’ snooping row has provided Rajasthan Congress more ammunition to fire at the BJP with reports emerging that the mobile phone of former CM Vasundhara Raje’s personal secretary too was targetted for hacking. 

    State Congress chief G S Dotasra said the “snooping” incident indicated how the Modi-Shah duo was trying to sideline Raje. While the BJP and the Raje camp are silent over the issue, many party leaders argue that the state Congress has no moral right to comment on the Pegasus issue until Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot reveals details of phone-tapping of MLAs in the state.

    The name of Raje’s personal secretary is on the list of 300 verified Indian numbers allegedly targeted for surveillance during 2017-19 through the Pegasus spyware. The ruling Congress is keen to revive the theory that all is not well between Raje and the BJP’s state  leadership. 

    Dotasra said at a press conference in Jaipur that an investigation should be initiated against Prime Minister Narendra Modi as “circumstantial evidence” suggested that Pegasus-snooping could have been carried out only with the concurrence of those sitting in top offices of power. “Those in the high echelons of power have committed an illegal and anti-national act as exposed by the Pegasus episode,” Dotasra said.

    “They have not spared anyone. They spied on their own leaders, while conspiring to completely finish the Opposition, ” Dotasra said. While the Raje camp or the BJP has given no official response, deputy leader of the Opposition Rajendra Rathore has tried to defend the Union government by targeting the Gehlot government over the phone tapping row in July last year when Sachin Pilot had rebelled against the top brass.

    During that period, some audio clips of phone conversations purportedly between Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and a few Congress MLAs had come out. Congress leaders from the Gehlot camp had alleged that the chats revealed that BJP leaders were indulging in horse-trading to topple the Rajasthan government. However, the BJP has alleged that this incident implies that phones of MLAs in the state are being tapped. 

  • Israel sets up inter-ministerial panel to probe Pegasus snooping case

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  With the global Pegasus snooping scandal snowballing, Israel is learnt to have set up a senior inter-ministerial team to examine allegations of its abuse, since the spyware belongs to an Israeli firm, the NSO Group.

    Parallelly, India’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information and Technology led by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor is expected to question top government officials on who ordered the snooping, when it meets next Wednesday, said sources.

    Israel’s National Security Council (NSC) has been tasked to head the Pegasus probe team. Interestingly, it is the NSC that oversees NSO exports. For its part, the NSO Group said it will thoroughly investigate any credible proof of misuse of its technologies and “will shut down the system where necessary”. 

    The Israeli action appears to be part of its attempts to avert diplomatic flare-ups after suspected abuse of Pegasus was found in France, Mexico, India, Morocco and Iraq. Prominent among the spyware’s targets were 10 prime ministers, three presidents, and a king.

    Since NSO claims it sells only to vetted governments, the needle of suspicion for the snoopgate started pointing towards the ruling dispensations. While Pegasus is meant to help thwart threats to national security, its possible use against political opponents to destabilise governments or win elections indicated its abuse.

    Back home, the Tharoor-led parliamentary panel has summoned senior officials from the Ministry of Electronics, Information and Technology and the Ministry of Home Affairs to its meeting on July 28. The agenda is citizens’ data security and privacy, according to a notification from the Lok Sabha Secretariat. 

    On Wednesday, the global media consortium that is doing the spyware expose, added the names of officials of farm giant Monsanto and other anti-CAA activists as potential targets of Pegasus. Six mobile numbers of Monsanto were added to the list in 2018 when it came under the radar for allegedly selling genetically modified seeds. Also, Samujjal Bhattacharjee, AASU member who was at the forefront of the anti-CAA protests in Assam, was on the list along with ULFA’s Anup Chetia.