Pegasus software penetrated the solid security barriers of the WhatsApp app. We tell you what it is, if it can be downloaded or not in the hands of the user and if there is any way to be detected on devices.
What is the Pegasus Software?
The Pegasus software is a spyware developed by the NSO Group, an Israeli technology company, that can enter cell phones in covert mode and gain access to their content, including the camera and microphone.
This sophisticated spyware allows you to monitor devices with Android, iOS and Symbian operating systems.
The tool was developed with the purported purpose of helping government intelligence agencies in fighting cybercrime and terrorism. However, journalists have demonstrated other hidden purposes.
The Pegasus program has the ability to collect contacts, files and passwords, locate targets, and it is also dangerously easy to install.
Pegasus was discovered in August 2016, after a failed attempt to install it on an iPhone mobile by a human rights activist.
Watch: How to clone WhatsApp? -Android and iOS
How does Pegasus spy software work?
Once installed, the Pegasus program can – in theory – collect any data from the device and transmit it to the attacker, including access to:
- Videos
- Photos
- Recordings
- Location records
- Web searches
- Communications
- Social media posts
- Passwords
- Call logs
- Social media posts
- Cameras and microphones for real-time surveillance, without the user’s permission or knowledge
How to install Pegasus on a cell phone?
The way to install Pegasus on smartphones has changed over time, with the following ways:
- Through vulnerabilities in commonly used applications.
- Through spear-phishing, that is, tricking users into clicking links or opening documents that secretly install the software.
- With a wireless transceiver located near a target user.
- Manually – if an agent can seize the target’s phone.
- With a missed call on WhatsApp, you can even delete it so that there is no record.
- Through an SMS message to the user’s cell phone, but without generating any notification.
Since 2019, with the latest version of the Pegasus software, it is possible to install spyware without the user doing anything, either through a missed call on WhatsApp – which does not need to be answered – or through a message on the phone.
There should only be one vulnerable app or operating system installed on the device.
On the other hand, to have access to the device’s microphone or camera, user permissions are not required.
Watch: How to Spy WhatsApp With POCWAPP? 3-Step Complete Guide
Where to download Pegasus software?
It is not possible to download Pegasus spyware from regular apps stores, nor can you buy the application online.
The company that developed Pegasus sells the program only to governments for the purpose of tracking down criminals and terrorists.
In other words, it is not selling it as an espionage product to the user and for mass surveillance purposes, but only to clients such as governments.
As an example, in 2011 the Mexican government used the Pegasus software to track down the drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
However, criminals do not appear to be the only recipients of Pegasus.
As reported by the Pegasus Project media consortium, more than 1,000 people in more than 50 countries were identified as targets of spyware, including people outside the orbit of the terrorist list and investigations of criminal activities, such as journalists, activists, politicians, business executives and members of the Arab royal family.
As expected, the NSO Group denied the Pegasus Project’s findings and alerts.
How to download Pegasus software for PC?
As we just explained, Pegasus is a spy program that is commonly sold to governments and high-net-worth customers. It is not available for general users, being impossible to download it for PC.
What cell phone spy apps to use?
If you are looking for a spy app to monitor of online activities of your children’s, employees or partner, then here we recommend some reliable and inexpensive options.
One of the most used spy apps worldwide is mSpy. It complies with the benefits it promises, it is cheap and safe. We recommend it.
Watch: mSpy App: Is it Safe? Review and Opinion, 2021
Other good reliable spy apps options include XNSPY and ClevGuard.
Also watch:
How to install XNSpy on Android and iOS?
Software ClevGuard: Review and Prices (2021)
And in this SpyApps.io guide, you can find more than 10 absolutely effective spyware.
What is the price of Pegasus program?
An anonymous source who claims to know the NSO Group’s fees said that Pegasus could cost about $ 500,000 for an exploit – an attack that exploits vulnerabilities in programs or systems – plus another $ 500,000 to infect 10 devices.
That is, a total of 1 million dollars, which can be more or less depending on each case.
Joxean Koret, specialist in computer security, told the Spanish media:
“They give you a list and tell you that these are the products for which they have exploits: for these versions of Windows, for WhatsApp on such operating systems, Safari, Chrome on Windows, whatever. Then the software that you put inside, you buy it separately ”.
How to detect Pegasus on my cell phone?
Spyware and spy apps usually operate in the background, that is, in a covert mode, without raising suspicions that they have been installed.
However, there are some ways to know if a device has been compromised, although these mechanisms are not within the reach of the normal user.
A safe -but not simple- method to check if Pegasus has infiltrated our mobile is to use MVT (Mobile Verification Toolkit).
It is a forensic investigation tool developed and published in mid-2021 by Amnesty International Security Lab, which allows identifying compromise symptoms associated with Pegasus spyware on Android and iOS devices.
MVT has been created for technologists and researchers. As its developers warn:
“Using it requires an understanding of the basics of forensic analysis and the use of command line tools. This is not intended for end-user self-assessment. If you are concerned about the security of your device, seek the help of an expert.”
In this Amnesty International publication you can read more in depth about this tool and here you can access the MVT diagnostic tool.
In this highly digitalized and highly guarded world, where there is less and less space for our privacy online, a certain degree of paranoia is necessary, but not to exaggerate.
Pegasus, the spyware that could hack WhatsApp
At the beginning of 2019 the Pegasus software managed to hack WhatsApp.
End-to-end encryption is a method of securing online communications.
Without going into technical terrain, the E2E makes it possible that only the sender and recipient can access the message. No third party, not even the provider – in this case, WhatsApp – can intercept the communication.
With the use of E2E, messages are encrypted in transit from one point to another and can only be decrypted by the devices participating in a communication.
But once the device decrypts a received message, the Pegasus program can access the data that is already at rest, explains a report by the Takshashila Institution.
“So it is not end-to-end encryption that is compromised, but the security of your devices. Once a phone is infected, Pegasus can mirror the device, literally log the keystrokes the user types. , browser history, contacts, files, etc. “.
Takshashila Institution
In theory, WhatsApp soon released an update that fixed this vulnerability.
Watch: How to spy WhatsApp and spy on chats?
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