Page 15 - 30NOV2019EA

ELECTION 2018
SNOOPING

hat privacy is at peril in cyberspace “Modi Govt caught snooping! Appalling but not
came into public domain from the Surprising! After all, BJP Govt- 1 fought against our
disclosure that an Israeli group used right to privacy. 2. Set up a multi-crore surveillance
spyware to snoop on human rights structure until stopped by SC. SC must take immedi-
activists and journalists in India after ate cognizance and issue a notice to BJP government,”
the Facebook-owned platform What- Congress’s chief spokesperson said in a tweet.
T sApp filed a lawsuit in a US court. The
Indian constitution guarantees a fundamental right WHATSAPP RESPONSE
to privacy and it was upheld by a nine judge consti- This was after WhatsApp said that journalists and
tutional bench of the Supreme Court after Mukul human rights activists in India have been targets of
Rohatgi, the then Attorney General stated that there is surveillance. WhatsApp has filed a lawsuit in a Cali-
no constitutionally guaranteed right to privacy. fornia federal court against Israeli cyber intelligence
In a shocking revelation WhatsApp has said that company NSO Group that has denied the allegations.
Indian journalists and human rights activists were However, NSO Group has in the past said that it sells
among the 1,400 users globally whose phones were its software only to government authorities and that
hacked using the spyware, Pegasus. WhatsApp is it always requests them not to misuse it.
owned by popular social media engine Facebook. It
has sued NSO Group, an Israeli surveillance company, HOW PEGASUS OPERATES
saying it was behind the sophisticated cyber attacks Reports suggest that about two dozen journalists,
affecting users between April and mid-May. activists and lawyers in India had been targeted. Glob-
According to experts, the spyware Pegasus can ally, 1,400 was the number of such users, also includ-
infect a user’s device either by sending a clickable link, ing diplomats, political dissidents as well as senior
or by just calling the phone. Even if the call is unan- government officials. Pegasus could compromise the
swered, the phone device would be hacked. Pegasus entire cell data, including that from Skype, Telegram,
is one of the most sophisticated mobile malware ever Viber, SMS, photo, emails, contacts, location, files,
made which allows hackers to take control of a phone browsing the history, besides microphone and cam-
by simply ringing the number of a target’s device. era recordings. Pegasus could be installed using tar-
Once installed, it send the targeted user’s private gets’ phone numbers. It can activate targets’ camera
data, including passwords, contact lists, calendar and mic to collect data. A person’s phone number is
events, text messages, and live voice calls from pop- the only requirement to install it. The most common
ular apps to the party that has infested the device. way is through SMS or flash SMS.
The malware turns the hacked phone into a spy, its The Centre in a knee jerk reaction, asked WhatsApp
camera is activated automatically and entire activity to respond and tried to blunt its criticism by leveling
is captured live as an audio and visual. The spyware allegations against the previous Congress govern-
can take full control of the devices, enabling snoop- ment alleging that snoopgate in the past was its crea-
ing as well as injection of data that can incriminate tion. The Centre tried to address the controversy but
the users. did not come to the main issue that the Israeli firm’s
claim that it sells its Pegasus spyware only to govern-
WHO HACKED PHONES? ment agencies. This points of suspicion towards the
Who used the software to hack phones in India? It is government as it is yet not clear which agency in In-
a big question. And the answer lies with NSO which dia bought it? The only action taken by the govern-
has said that “it sells its spyware exclusively to gov- ment is seeking answers from WhatsApp, which has
ernment customers”. The Congress said instead of some 400 million active users. In a statement, Union
digressing from the issue by asking WhatsApp to Minister for Information Technology Ravi Shankar
explain, the minister should identify who authorised Prasad sought an explanation from WhatsApp over
the purchase of the surveillance software and which the breach. In a tweet the minister said that “We have
government agency deployed it. asked Whatsapp to explain the kind of breach and
Congress in a statement said “instead of digress- what it is doing to safeguard the privacy of millions
ing from the issue of illegal, unconstitutional and of Indian citizens.” “The government is concerned. We
unauthorised surveillance of citizens of India by ask- have asked WhatsApp to explain the breach and what
ing WhatsApp to explain”, the minister should iden- it is doing to safeguard privacy of millions of Indians.
tify who authorised the purchase of the surveillance The government is committed to protecting the pri-
software and which government agency deployed it. vacy of all Indians,” said Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union
Reports of snooping gave fresh ammunition to the IT Minister. “Government agencies have a well-estab-
Opposition to target the Narendra Modi government. lished protocol for interception, which includes sanc-

15