Why is Pegasus the most sophisticated mobile spyware ever detected?

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All iPhone users were urged by Apple on Thursday August 25 to urgently install a security update to prevent them from being infected with the Pegasus spyware. This cyber-weapon is, in fact, “by far the most sophisticated ever detected” on mobile, affirms Gert-Jan Schenk, vice-president Europe, Middle East and Africa of Lookout, the American computer security company on mobile which has analyzed this virus. He explains to France 24 how Pegasus, created by the Israeli company NSO to spy on Apple, Android or BlackBerry smartphone users, stands out.

>> Read on France 24: NSO, the Israeli start-up that created the spyware that takes control of iPhones

France 24: What makes Pegasus different from other mobile spyware?

Gert-Jan Schenk: We have never seen such sophisticated spyware. Its existence on the infected smartphone cannot be detected by the user. In addition, no data encryption is effective in protecting against it and its developers have discovered three security vulnerabilities unknown to Apple.

When you say that Pegasus ignores data encryption, does that mean that it allows monitoring conversations on WhatsApp or Telegram?

You have to understand how Pegasus works. This spyware is installed at the phone's kernel level, that is to say at the heart of the operating system, which makes it possible to intercept conversations even before any encryption takes place. It's as if spies can see what the user is typing on their keyboard. So, indeed, app encryption like WhatsApp or Telegram is useless against Pegasus.

So this software could be used to fight against terrorist movements like the Islamic State group, whose members use Telegram?

Intelligence services can indeed use it for this purpose. But it's an unparalleled tool to learn as much as possible about anyone, because after your wife or boyfriend, no one knows more about you than your phone.

As the regulations regarding the sale of cyber-weapons are very vague, NSO can decide to sell Pegasus to whomever it sees fit. The company claims to only provide this software to "authorized entities", but it is solely in control of who falls into this category. It can be a repressive state or a state industrial espionage service. This legal vagueness is very dangerous when dealing with such a powerful electronic weapon.

But Apple rolled out a security update that should fix the problem?

First of all, the same software exists on Android and BlackBerry, and we can assume that it is equally powerful. Then Apple's update only ensures that Pegasus can no longer be installed on iPhones. But the spyware continues to exist on smartphones that have already been infected, without users noticing.

We still have to find out if Apple's update is effective against cyberspies wanting to access iPhones remotely.

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