Pegasus spyware scandal: Can Silicon Valley stop government snooping?
TECHNOLOGY | ANALYSIS 20 July 2021 By Matthew Sparkes Spyware sold for use in anti-terror investigations is being misused to watch journalists, academics and politicians across the world, according to a report by The Guardian and partner organisations. NSO Group, based in Israel, is thought to sell the spyware to multiple countries, including Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, India and the United Arab Emirates. It allows a user to read data from smartphones and spy via their microphones and cameras. The software, called Pegasus, uses vulnerabilities in smartphone and social media source code. Technology firms that make these phones and social media platforms are now embroiled in a long-running legal battle with NSO to prevent the hacking of their platforms – but can unmonitored, unregulated state surveillance be stopped? WhatsApp and Facebook, its parent company, first filed a lawsuit in California in 2019 alleging that NSO...