Facebook-owned WhatsApp has informed the government that the software Pegasus designed by Israeli firm NSO targeted 121 users in India. Out of this, the data of 20 mobile phones is clearly leaked. This information was given to the government by WhatsApp on 18 November. Earlier, the government had demanded technical information on this matter from WhatsApp.
Apart from this, according to TOI's report, the Facebook-owned messaging platform also informed the government that it would not be able to clearly tell what data was accessed from the targeted users' phones. A few days before this recent development, the issue was discussed by a parliamentary panel headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.
According to the information received, WhatsApp has also informed the government that these attacks were very complex and sophisticated and the company's access to some aspects of the attack is not available. In this case, the investigation is still going on. Earlier, WhatsApp had indicated to the government that 121 users were targeted from India, but this has been confirmed only in recent development.
However, in a conversation earlier in May, WhatsApp indicated to the government that it does not see Pegasus as a major security threat. The WhatsApp espionage case came to light in late October when the company confirmed that 1,400 people from four continents were targeted by an Israeli firm. Most of the people targeted are people like journalists and activists. Indians are also included in this. These attacks were reportedly held between 29 April and 10 May.
