Paragon, the precedent of the Pegasus scandal

The case that was created around the alleged abuse in the use of the graphyte spyware Of the Israelian company Paragon is very reminiscent of the scandal triggered by Pegasus, the system developed by NSO and used in 2021 to understand the secrets of world politics and journalism. Pegasus is not a spyware and it is not even a malware, but a software built with the aim of penetrating a device and collecting all information.

Obtained the administrator privileges using vulnerabilities – for example – of smartphone or backdoor that the producers had thought for other functions, Pegasus can take possession of data without being detected by an antiviruswithout limits of access to the system even where the encryption keys are kept.

According to an investigation that concerned 50,000 telephone users who became publicEe subject to potential surveillance – including those of heads of state, activists, journalists and family members of Jamal Khashoggi – Pegasus is used to facilitate violations of human rights globally and on a massive scale. The “Pegasus Project” launched by Amnesty International revealed how The software was “a weapon available to repressive governments who wanted to reduce journalists to silence, attack activists and cut off dissent, putting in risk of countless human lives “taking advantage of the regulatory deficiency. NSO Group defined the” false and based on incorrect hypotheses and non -supported hypotheses “, reiterating that reiterating that It is engaged in “a mission to save human lives”.

By the data made public through its investigations, NSO customers were found in 11 states: Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, Bahrein, United Arab Emirates, India, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Mexico, Rwanda, Togo and Hungary and tests emerged according to which the family of the GSaudi ornalist Jamal Khashoggi was targeted with Pegasus before and after his killing. At least 180 journalists have been identified in 20 states – including Azerbaijan, India, Morocco and Hungary – potential targets of Pegasus between 2016 and June 2021.