This story originally appeared in The Washington Post July 21, 2021 Takeaways from the Pegasus Project(The Washington Post) By Washington Post Staff July 21, 2021 at 4:14 p.m. EDT Military-grade spyware leased by the Israeli firm NSO Group to governments for tracking terrorists and criminals was used in attempted and successful hacks of 37 smartphones belonging to journalists, human rights activists, business executives and the two women closest to murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to an investigation by The Washington Post and 16 media partners led by the Paris-based journalism nonprofit Forbidden Stories. The Pegasus Project: Private Israeli spyware used to hack cellphones of journalists, activists worldwideForbidden Stories and Amnesty International, a human rights group, had access to a list of more than 50,000 numbers and shared it with the news organizations, which did further research and analysis. Amnesty’s Security Lab did forensic examination of the phones. Here are key takeaways from the investigation:
Reporting from The Washington PostPrivate Israeli spyware used to hack cellphones of journalists, activists worldwideNSO Group’s Pegasus spyware, licensed to governments around the globe, can infect phones without a click. Beyond the personal intrusions made possible by smartphone surveillance, the widespread use of spyware has emerged as a leading threat to democracies worldwide, critics say. Read the full story. Jamal Khashoggi’s wife targeted with spyware before his deathNSO Group’s Pegasus spyware was used to secretly target the smartphones of the two women closest to murdered Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi, according to digital forensic analysis. Read the full story. Letter from the editorWhy The Washington Post joined news organizations across the globe to bring you this investigation. Read the full story. FAQ: A guide to ‘spyware’How Pegasus works, who is most vulnerable and why it’s hard to protect yourself from hacks. Read the full story. Despite the hype, iPhone security no match for NSO spywareAn international investigation found 23 Apple devices that were successfully hacked. “Zero-click” attacks can work on even the newest generations of iPhones, even after years of effort in which Apple attempted to close the door against unauthorized surveillance. Read the full story. ‘Somebody has to do the dirty work’: NSO founders defend the spyware they builtCEO Shalev Hulio said he would ‘shut Pegasus down’ if there were a better alternative. In lengthy interviews, Hulio and co-founder Omrie Lavie traced a journey launched from an Israeli kibbutz and said the company’s technology had saved lives. Read the full story. The spyware secretly hacking smartphonesPodcast: The military-grade spyware that’s being used to spy on journalists, human rights activists and business executives. Listen to Post Reports. Key question for Americans overseas: Can their phones be hacked?NSO says phones with U.S. +1 numbers can’t be hacked anywhere in the world. But Americans using foreign-based numbers outside the U.S. are vulnerable. Read the full story. Invisible surveillanceVideo: How spyware is secretly hacking smartphones. Watch the video. U.S. and E.U. security officials wary of NSO links to Israeli intelligenceOfficials and analysts say the Israeli surveillance tech firm makes a world-class product, but some countries’ security services suspect a relationship with Israel’s government. Read the full story. How Washington power brokers gained from NSO’s spyware ambitionsThe surveillance giant has failed to build a big business in the U.S. But an influential network of consultants, lawyers and lobbyists still made money representing the company. Read the full story. On the list: Ten prime ministers, three presidents and a kingAmong 50,000 phone numbers, the Pegasus Project found those of hundreds of public officials. But what of heads of state and governments, arguably the most coveted of targets? Read the full story. A princess raced to escape Dubai’s powerful ruler. Then her phone appeared on the list.In the days before commandos dragged Princess Latifa from her getaway yacht in the Indian Ocean, her number was added to a list that included targets of a powerful spyware, a new investigation shows. Read the full story. How Mexico’s traditional political espionage went high-techVictims say the use of Pegasus spyware through 2017 had a chilling effect on journalists and human rights workers. The government says it halted the practice, but questions remain. Read the full story. The spyware is sold to governments to fight terrorism. In India, it was used to hack journalists and others.The confirmed infections of seven phones represent a tiny fraction of what may be a vast surveillance net in Modi’s India. Read the full story. Indian activists jailed on terrorism charges were on list with surveillance targetsThe Bhima Koregaon activists were also victims of an unidentified hacker who planted evidence on their computers, recent reports found. Read the full story. In Orban’s Hungary, spyware was used to monitor journalists and others who might challenge the governmentThe deployment of the tool, confirmed with forensics, shows a willingness to use tactics previously deemed out-of-bounds. Read the full story. Reporting from the Pegasus Project partners
About this projectForbidden Stories, a Paris-based journalism nonprofit, and Amnesty International had access to a list of phone numbers concentrated in countries known to surveil their citizens and also known to have been clients of NSO Group. The two nonprofits shared the information with The Washington Post and 15 other news organizations worldwide that have worked collaboratively to conduct further analysis and reporting over several months. Forbidden Stories oversaw the Pegasus Project, and Amnesty International provided forensic analysis but had no editorial input. More than 80 journalists from Forbidden Stories, The Washington Post, Le Monde, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Die Zeit, the Guardian, Daraj, Direkt36, Le Soir, Knack, Radio France, the Wire, Proceso, Aristegui Noticias, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, Haaretz and PBS Frontline joined the effort. Reporting by Reed Albergotti, Michael Birnbaum, Elizabeth Dwoskin, Shane Harris, Drew Harwell, Niha Masih, Souad Mekhennet, Dana Priest, Shira Rubin, Mary Beth Sheridan, Joanna Slater, Julie Tate and Craig Timberg. Design and development by Junne Alcantara, Betty Chavarria, Garland Potts and Irfan Uraizee. Video by Jon Gerberg. Video graphics by Brian Monroe. Photo research and editing by Chloe Coleman and Olivier Laurent. Graphics by Hannah Dormido, Courtney Kan, Tim Meko and Danielle Rindler. “Post Reports” production by Reena Flores, Maggie Penman, Martine Powers and Emma Talkoff. Editing by Jennifer Amur, Marisa Bellack, Matthew Brown, Andrew deGrandpre, David Bruns, Peter Finn, Courtney Kan, Jeff Leen, Mark Seibel, Gregory Manifold, Liz McGehee, Jorge Ribas and Stu Werner. Additional production by Courtney Beesch, Steven Bohner, Amy Cavenaile, Sarah Dunton, Tom Johnson, Travis Lyles, Kenisha Malcolm, Angel Mendoza, Tessa Muggeridge, Lucy Naland, Coleen O’Lear, T.J. Ortenzi, Mark W. Smith and Emily Tsao. |