Dozens of journalists and NGO members have been spied on in El Salvador by the Pegasus spyware. Yet another proof of the liberticidal uses of the Israeli cyber weapon.
Since the revelations of July 2021 on the unscrupulous customers of the company NSO which markets the Pegasus spyware, the Israeli group has tried with various arguments to defend itself, in particular on the pretext of misuse of its products.
Unsurprisingly, behind the communication and the denial, the evidence continues to flow: as reported by Wired on January 12, 2022, a consortium of human rights organizations revealed that in November 2021, traces of the Pegasus malware were found on 37 devices of 35 journalists and activists from El Salvador.
The targets: journalists, members of NGOs and elected officials
The small Central American country is marked by a very strong concentration of powers, and increased pressure on certain journalists who are a little too critical to the taste of its leaders. Thus, the devices of 23 journalists from the Salvadoran news site El Faro were infected by Pegasus, like 3 of their colleagues from Gato Encerrado. Journalists from 4 other publications were also targeted, as were two independent reporters.
The possibilities given by this spyware are staggering: interception of messages, recording of calls, GPS data, contacts, in short, all the files on the phone. A nightmare for the protection of the sources of these journalists, and more generally for the right to information in the country. Members of NGOs were also targeted.
The findings of the consortium leave little room for doubt. Some targets have reportedly been infected more than 40 times. Pegasus’ infection vector has also long been its strength: the ability to infect devices, Apple and Android, without the slightest interaction from the target.
Apple’s coup?
But here, an interesting point is that a part of the victims were directly warned by Apple of the possibility that their device was the target of a Pegasus attack. 23 journalists in all, according to information from the Association of Journalists of El Salvador, and at least two elected according to Wired and El Faro.
This point is far from trivial. Apple has been particularly singled out for the vulnerability of its smartphones to NSO software attacks. Not that the brand’s devices are particularly vulnerable compared to others, but the group at the apple was careful to emphasize the protection and privacy that its phones offer. To the point of making it a selling point.
Apple counter-attacked by launching, after Whatsapp and Meta (formerly Facebook), legal proceedings against NSO, but also by defending its desire to protect its users by supporting the fight against “cybersurveillance“. The Californian group then announced technical and financial support with a contribution of $ 10 million.
Only time will be able to demonstrate Apple’s capabilities in the field, but this detection of Pegasus among its users certainly shows the group’s desire to stand out in protection against such spyware.
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