19 targeted Indians writes to Centre to reveal information about the Pegasus spyware breach
By MYBRANDBOOK
A group of 19 journalists, human rights activists and writers who have been targeted by a spyware developed by Israeli company NSO Group have written a letter to the government, asking it to disclose the information it has about the cyber attack, other methods of mass surveillance, and the identity of the suspects. Close to 121 Indians were affected in the privacy breach according to a report.
The spyware, named Pegasus, was used to hack into any phone simply through a missed call, predominantly via WhatsApp, giving the attackers access to the device, including location data, emails, passwords and even turn on its microphone and camera.
“The knowledge that we have all been under surveillance by an unknown entity and that our intimate details, personal conversations, financial transactions etc. were being spied upon is deeply disturbing,” said the signatories to the letter. “This violates our fundamental right of privacy, and compromises not only our security, but also of those in our extended network of family, friends, colleagues, clients, sources etc.”
The group said it was “a matter of public concern whether Indian tax payer money has been spent on this kind of cyber surveillance requiring the expenditure of crores of rupees and a vast infrastructure of information technology”. They said international private corporations, among other foreign players, had penetrated all levels of telecommunication channels in India “and have the ability to access the most intimate details of so many Indian citizens”. This “threatens our national sovereignty”, they added.
Among the signatories are activists Bela Bhatia, Degree Prasad Chouhan, Shalini Gera, and Seema Azad.
The signatories to the letter asked the government whether it was “aware of any contract between any of its various ministries, departments, agencies, or any state government, and the NSO group or any of its contractors to deploy Pegasus or related malware” for operations within India.
“If so, then the details of such a contract, including its total value and the contracting agencies should be placed in the public domain, including information regarding the monitoring and oversight to which these operations have been subjected in order to prevent their abuse,” they added. “And if indeed, the Government of India had no information of any such surveillance, then the public should be fully informed of all the steps being taken to identify the culprits behind these cyber-attacks and to secure our telecommunication channels to prevent such an attack in the future.”
A “responsible government” should ensure the security of all its citizens, the group added.
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