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Govt. questions WhatsApp after spyware is used for snooping
Why is it in news?
- Union Government has sought an explanation from messaging platform WhatsApp after the Facebook-owned company confirmed that some Indian users of its app came under surveillance using an Israeli spyware.
More in news
- Most targeted in India were journalists, Dalit and human rights activists and lawyers.
- A WhatsApp spokesperson confirmed that Indian users were among those impacted by the spyware and contacted by the company this week to assist them.
- More about spyware Pegasus
(1) The spyware exploits a vulnerability in WhatsApp’s video-call feature that allows attackers to inject the spyware on to phones simply by ringing the number of a target’s device.
(2) The person did not even have to answer the call. Once Pegasus is installed, it can access the targeted users’ private data, including passwords, contact lists, calendar events, text messages, and live voice calls from popular mobile messaging apps.
Source
The Hindu