The world's most dangerous spyware

Have you ever heard of Pegasus? Pegasus is a digital spying tool developed by the Israeli-based company NSO Group, the world's most notorious maker of commercial spyware. Pegasus has been around since 2011 and can extract the contents of a phone, giving access to its texts and photos, or activate its camera and microphone to provide real-time surveillance on its target. It doesn’t require any user interaction; it can simply be sent to a phone number and gain remote access without you even opening your phone. And currently, there is no way to defend against it.

Pegasus was a critical factor in the capture of El Chapo, has stopped a number of terrorist plots, fought off organized crime, and even took down a global child abuse ring, identifying suspects in over 40 countries.

Which would be great if it ended there, but there's a bit more to it than that. Over the past decade, there have been numerous cases of governments misusing the technology. Mexico deployed the software, not just against gangsters, but also against journalists and political challengers. The UAE used the software to track the phone of a civil rights activist who the government later threw in jail. It has also been used to target members of Rwanda's opposition party and journalists exposing corruption in El Salvador. We know that Pegasus is being used in at least 45 countries, and Microsoft executive Kristen Goodwin came forward and said, the big dirty secret is that governments are buying this stuff, not just authoritarian governments, but all types of governments.

And in April of this year, the largest forensically documented cluster of spyware infections was exposed, with victims including members of the European Parliament, politicians, legislators, members of civil society organizations, and their family members. But I did want to say, as a regular citizen, you're most likely not at risk of being affected by something as sophisticated as Pegasus, but it's important to know that this technology exists.

Pegasus is a good place to start if you want to learn more about personal cybersecurity.