Pegasus Spyware Hacked 20 User Whatsapp
WhatsApp informed the government in September that 121 Indian citizens may have been targeted by an Israeli company’s spyware, an official at the mobile messaging services company said, detailing what was a second alert over a possible snooping attempt that came to light earlier in the week.
The official, who asked not to be named, said the company had responded to the ministry of electronics and information technology’s calls for an explanation over the kind of breach and what steps it had taken to protect users.
The two alerts – one in May and the September communication – were reiterated in the response, which was sent ahead of the November 4 deadline set by the government, this person said, asking not to be named.
WhatsApp also told CERT-In that the vulnerability could no longer be exploited to carry out attacks. Prasad said the government is committed to protecting the fundamental rights of citizens, including the right to privacy. "The government operates strictly as per provisions of law and laid down protocols. There are adequate safeguards to ensure that no innocent citizen is harassed or his privacy breached," he said. In response to another question on malicious mobile apps stealing user data, the minister said the propagation of such applications, targeting mobile phones, are being reported globally.
"Such malicious applications could be used for stealing data from infected mobile phones for further misuse by cybercriminals," Prasad said. The government has taken several measures to check malicious apps which include the issue of alerts and advisories about threats and vulnerabilities affecting mobile phones, along with countermeasures by the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), he said. "Security tips have been published to enable users to secure their mobile and smartphones by CERT-In. The government has operationalized the Cyber Swachhta Kendra (CSK) to enable detection and cleaning of malicious code including from mobile and smartphones," Prasad added.
The official, who asked not to be named, said the company had responded to the ministry of electronics and information technology’s calls for an explanation over the kind of breach and what steps it had taken to protect users.
The two alerts – one in May and the September communication – were reiterated in the response, which was sent ahead of the November 4 deadline set by the government, this person said, asking not to be named.
WhatsApp also told CERT-In that the vulnerability could no longer be exploited to carry out attacks. Prasad said the government is committed to protecting the fundamental rights of citizens, including the right to privacy. "The government operates strictly as per provisions of law and laid down protocols. There are adequate safeguards to ensure that no innocent citizen is harassed or his privacy breached," he said. In response to another question on malicious mobile apps stealing user data, the minister said the propagation of such applications, targeting mobile phones, are being reported globally.
"Such malicious applications could be used for stealing data from infected mobile phones for further misuse by cybercriminals," Prasad said. The government has taken several measures to check malicious apps which include the issue of alerts and advisories about threats and vulnerabilities affecting mobile phones, along with countermeasures by the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), he said. "Security tips have been published to enable users to secure their mobile and smartphones by CERT-In. The government has operationalized the Cyber Swachhta Kendra (CSK) to enable detection and cleaning of malicious code including from mobile and smartphones," Prasad added.
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