Spy State’s Pegasus Spyware Boomerangs to Haunt the Deep State
demosthenestheyounger.substack.com
Image Source: jannoon028 If you aren’t familiar with Pegasus, don’t feel bad. In layman’s term, Pegasus is a shadowy remotely installed “zero click” spyware developed by an Israeli company known as NSO Group targeting smart phones. Once developed, this cyber weapon was heavily marketed to governments and their spy agencies ostensibly to help them prevent things like terrorism. However, not surprisingly, in practice, this tool was instead used to spy on and crackdown on dissidents, reporters, human rights workers and pretty much anyone a government deemed a political threat. From the FBI and Mexican government to the Saudi Ministry of the Interior (which is their domestic security organization), the tool was “evaluated.” By evaluated, I mean purchased and used to covertly target anyone deemed an enemy of the state…or better, regime. However, since Pegasus went live around 2016 and the genie was released from the bottle, the complex code and attack pathway has been analyzed enabling it to be reproduced by other companies and nations that are dedicated to developing spyware and other types of malware and/or anti-virus detection and defense. Thus, the ironic problem with this kind of technology is you can only do so much to prevent it from proliferating once released. This has in effect created a double-edged sword for spy agencies and governments. The powerful spyware that was unleashed on dissidents and reporters is now catching the political elite in their own dragnet.
Spy State’s Pegasus Spyware Boomerangs to Haunt the Deep State
Spy State’s Pegasus Spyware Boomerangs to…
Spy State’s Pegasus Spyware Boomerangs to Haunt the Deep State
Image Source: jannoon028 If you aren’t familiar with Pegasus, don’t feel bad. In layman’s term, Pegasus is a shadowy remotely installed “zero click” spyware developed by an Israeli company known as NSO Group targeting smart phones. Once developed, this cyber weapon was heavily marketed to governments and their spy agencies ostensibly to help them prevent things like terrorism. However, not surprisingly, in practice, this tool was instead used to spy on and crackdown on dissidents, reporters, human rights workers and pretty much anyone a government deemed a political threat. From the FBI and Mexican government to the Saudi Ministry of the Interior (which is their domestic security organization), the tool was “evaluated.” By evaluated, I mean purchased and used to covertly target anyone deemed an enemy of the state…or better, regime. However, since Pegasus went live around 2016 and the genie was released from the bottle, the complex code and attack pathway has been analyzed enabling it to be reproduced by other companies and nations that are dedicated to developing spyware and other types of malware and/or anti-virus detection and defense. Thus, the ironic problem with this kind of technology is you can only do so much to prevent it from proliferating once released. This has in effect created a double-edged sword for spy agencies and governments. The powerful spyware that was unleashed on dissidents and reporters is now catching the political elite in their own dragnet.