New Delhi: Not only did India is bearing the brunt of technology that has taken the nation by shock with unprecedented revelations that the phones of journalists, politicians, government officials and activists are being snooped using Israeli based Pegasus spyware, but countries like Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Morocco, Rwanda and the UAE were also the alleged victims of Pegasus.
According to global media, who were working on the investigation and made the shocking revelations, it was not clear how many of the devices on the list had been targeted, but forensic analysis of the 37 phones showed there had been attempted and successful hacks. This included people close to Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered in October 2018 in Istanbul, Mexican journalist Cecilio Pineda Brito also appeared twice on the list.
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Moreover, the phones of two Hungarian investigative journalists, Andras Szabo and Szabolcs Panyi were also found to have been infected by the spyware. In India, 40 journalists, Opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi and two ministers in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government were reported to be on the list. The biggest revelations which coincided with the first day of the Parliament monsoon session set off a political tussle between the Centre and the Opposition.
However, amid much chaos and protests by the opposition over issues including the Pegasus matter, Lok Sabha proceedings have been adjourned till Thursday. Moreover, the list of targets of surveillance operations carried out by Pegasus spyware seems to be increasing. New evidence uncovered by Pegasus has revealed that the phone numbers of 14 world leaders including Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan, French President Emmanuel Macron and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and hundreds of government officials, were potential targets of Pegasus.
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Other world leaders who are the potential targets of Pegasus and seven of them who are still in power include Morocco’s King Mohammed VI, French President Emmanuel Macron, Iraqi President Barham Salih, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, Moroccan Prime Minister Saad-Eddine El Othmani, Former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Former Ugandan Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda, Former Algerian Prime Minister Noureddine Bedoui, Former Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel.
According to the French newspaper Le Monde, many New Delhi based diplomats, staffs of International NGO’s were also on the Pegasus list. India’s Ministry of External Affairs has not reacted to the whole controversy or has given any official response on the issue so far. On Monday, several global media organizations reported that the telephone numbers of a British High Commission official and two officials of the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and employees of international NGOs like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation were also in the database of those targeted.
In response to this, a British High Commission spokesperson on Pegasus row had said: “We are not going to get into speculation around individual cases on this issue.” "The UK works closely with our allies around the world to tackle cyber threats and improve our overall global resilience to attacks. We do not comment on private interactions with the Government of India", the spokesperson added.
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