Governments must impose a global moratorium on the international spyware trade or face a world in which no mobile phone is safe from state-sponsored hackers, Edward Snowden has warned in the wake of revelations about the clients of NSO Group.
Snowden, who in 2013 blew the whistle on the secret mass surveillance programmes of the US National Security Agency, described for-profit malware developers as “an industry that should not exist”.
Pegasus spyware is capable of bypassing your phone's security and gaining complete access to your device – including emails, messages, GPS location, photos, video and your phone's microphone. A Guardian investigation can now reveal widespread abuse of the Pegasus technology by government clients around the world who purchased the spyware from its Israeli manufacturer, the NSO Group. People who were selected as possible targets include journalists, lawyers and human rights defenders
The story of how Israeli-made spyware Pegasus works, the hacking of journalists’ phones and its ominous consequences.
