Some sources reported that the phone of a Saudi activist was hacked by Pegasus spy software.
According to the International Group of Pak Sahaft News Agency, quoting Al-Khaleej Al-Jadeed, electronics spy security researchers have discovered that Pegasus spy software, developed by Israeli company NSO, targets iPhones and other Apple products.
The Washington Post reports that the move is a new sign that chat programs have become a common way to infiltrate political opposition and human rights activists.
On Monday, Apple released an emergency update to block the intrusion of spyware discovered by researchers at Citizen Labs, which it said found a breach in the files of a Saudi activist’s iPhone, and the company was notified.
According to the Washington Post, investigators declined to name the Saudi activist targeted by the new vulnerability at his personal request.
After installation, this spyware can infiltrate your phone, laptop, or desktop computer. These devices become a spy device that hacks the victim’s data from the cameras and microphones of the devices, and geographical locations and incoming and outgoing messages and calls and emails of the target person are sent to the Israeli company.
Pegasus spyware is Israeli software used to hack mobile phones.
Israel and the countries that used the Pegasus software pursue certain goals, and the tendency of these goals is against human rights. In other words, this software is used to suppress dissent and criticism, to influence and pressure the authorities of other countries and to prevent the free dissemination of information by the media and activists.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is one of the people who has used Pegasus a lot.
Last year, a Toronto-based academic research organization reported that Riyadh and Abu Dhabi have hacked the cell phones of 36 journalists, producers, presenters and executives of Al Jazeera along with the cell phones of an Al-Arabiya correspondent based in London, using the Pegasus spy software made by the Israeli company NSAW.
Earlier, the Saudis’s cell phone hacking of Amazon owner Jeff Bezos had caused widespread controversy.