How to check if your smartphone is monitored by Pegasus spyware?

A few days ago, the Pegasus scandal broke out. Created by the Israeli law enforcement and intelligence company NSO Group, spyware is widely used to secretly spy on residents of different countries.

According to computer security specialists, at least 50,000 devices have been infected worldwide. This number does not seem remarkably high, but Pegasus is very dangerous-it allows you to take full control of the smartphone, secretly read messages, tap phone conversations, view photos and videos. Popular antiviruses cannot detect Pegasus, because this malware exploits "zero day" vulnerabilities that are unknown to developers of operating systems and anti-virus applications. Human rights organisation Amnesty International has developed a tool to identify this malware. It is called MVT (Mobile Verification Toolkit), and its source code is available on GitHub.The tool is compatible with Android and IOS, but there are no ready-made solutions for quick installation of the application. They must be compiled for a specific device, which can only be done on a computer equipped with Linux or macOS.

The MVT program records a backup copy of the smartphone's data on the computer, analyzes all data and verifies whether the device is infected with Pegasus spyware, and informs the user if the device's information can be compromised and transferred to third parties. The tool, in particular, analyzes data transfer logs-this is where infection indicators are most likely to be found (information on sending call history, SMS, instant messages, and other items to a remote server).? On IOS, these logs are stored longer than on Android, so it is much easier to detect Pegasus spyware on the iPhone. Given the complexity of using the Mobile Verification Toolkit, this tool should only be recommended to knowledgeable users or those who suspect Pegasus is following them. Information security experts believe this spyware is being used for targeted surveillance. It does not infect random devices but only smartphones owned by specific individuals whose activities interest those who control the software. Each Pegasus license costs hundreds of thousands of dollars, so surveillance focuses on people with valuable information (for example, politicians, business leaders or journalists of major publications). Although the Pegasus case has recently become very popular in the news, hundreds of other spying applications continue to operate silently and spy on their victims. Many programs operate in a grey area pretending to be parental control or other legitimate applications. Be vigilant!

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— Sandeep Shinde Tue Sep 01 09:08:51 +0000 2020