<h5>What is the Pegasus spyware?</h5>  <p>Have you seen any sci-fi or action-thriller movies where a bunch of evil things happen because of some mysterious software created by some secretive character with suspicious intentions? Well, sometimes, truth is stranger than fiction and we’re here to tell you all about how the Pegasus spyware is being used to spy on people across the world.</p>
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<p>Spyware is a type of computer virus designed to steal personal information from a person’s phone, computer, or any other device. Spyware collects personal information such as passwords, credit card/ debit card numbers, internet history, etc. This information is sent to a third party for them to use or sell to others.</p>
<p>Pegasus is the name of spyware designed by an Israeli firm called the NSO Group Technologies. The firm’s co-founder stated that the Pegasus spyware can be sent to devices “flying through the air” to infiltrate them. This could be a reference to Pegasus, the winged horse in Greek mythology. Although the latter was known to be a good-hearted, helpful and gentle creature, the former has been termed a cyber-weapon by many experts. 
</p> <h5>How does the Pegasus spyware spread, and what can it do?</h5>  <p>Pegasus can be installed on a user’s device from a simple WhatsApp missed call. Even the record of this missed call can be deleted, making the user completely unaware of the Pegasus infection. Another way to send the spyware is by simply sending a special message to a user’s phone that produces no notification.
Once installed, the Pegasus spyware can take any data from a device and share it with the attacker. This includes data such as photos, videos, location, web searches, passwords, call logs, even encrypted messages from applications like WhatsApp and Signal. It can also activate the cameras and microphones of a device and use them for real-time surveillance without the knowledge of the user.
</p> <h5>Who used the Pegasus software against whom?</h5>  <p>The NSO Group states that its software can only be used by governments and their agencies to solve, prevent, and investigate crime and terrorism. However, recent investigations show that Pegasus is being widely misused. </p>
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<p>A Paris-based not-for-profit organisation called Forbidden Stories, along with 17 other media outlets across the world, conducted an investigation and came across a list of 50,000 phone numbers selected for surveillance by the customers of the NSO Group. </p>
<p>Out of these, 180 numbers belonged to journalists in countries like India, Mexico, Hungary, Morocco, and France, among others. Potential targets also included human rights defenders, businesspeople, lawyers, doctors, diplomats, politicians, and several heads of state. 
</p> <h5>How do users keep themselves safe from spyware?</h5>  <p>There are a few ways that can prevent viruses from entering your devices. These include not clicking on links or emails which are unfamiliar or look suspicious, only visiting secure websites (which have a lock icon on the URL bar), downloading applications from trusted sources such as official websites or application stores such as Google Play on Android, App Store on Apple devices, etc.</p>
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Other steps to protect yourself from viruses include installing an antivirus on your computer, keeping your devices and applications updated, and keeping different passwords for different accounts.
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Software is being used to secretly steal data from people’s phones. How does this software infect devices, who used it and how do we keep ourselves safe? Let’s read!

What is the Pegasus Spyware?

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