Is the powerful virus that infected WhatsApp a flying horse or a Trojan horse? Don’t ask the woman who developed it

The unsavoury revelations about the hacking of WhatsApp by software developed by Israeli company, NSO Group, raised some interesting imagery. NSO has developed a powerful smartphone virus called Pegasus, described by NSO co-founder Shalev Hulio as the company’s Trojan horse that could be sent “flying through the air” to infiltrate devices.

Right, let’s get this straight. Pegasus was the son of mortal Medusa and Poseidon, god of the sea. Pegasus and his brother Chrysaor were born from the blood of their beheaded mother, who was tricked and killed by Perseus. Pegasus was represented as a kind-hearted, gentle creature, somewhat naive but always eager to help.

Continue reading…

from Data and computer security | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2Yyt7gw
via IFTTT

Amnesty International fears its staff may be ‘surveilled via NSO Pegasus software’

The Israeli firm linked to this week’s WhatsApp hack is facing a lawsuit backed by Amnesty International, which says it fears its staff may be under surveillance from spyware installed via the messaging service.

Related: WhatsApp urges users to update app after discovering spyware vulnerability

Related: WhatsApp spyware attack was attempt to hack human rights data, says lawyer

Related: WhatsApp hack: have I been affected and what should I do?

Continue reading…

from Data and computer security | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2HxpuR1
via IFTTT

Cyberwarfare is on the march, but there is nothing in the Geneva conventions to cover it

We don’t yet know for sure who used Israeli company NSO’s software to hack WhatsApp users – the messaging service’s parent company Facebook has said only that the culprit is an “advanced cyber actor” – but all signs point to it being a government. According to one analysis, NSO has 45 governments as clients including, amazingly, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, even though officially these states don’t recognise Israel.

Whoever the culprit, the WhatsApp attack will surely be added to a long list of state-backed attacks that includes Russia’s 2015 takedown of Ukraine’s power grid, China’s persistent intellectual property thefts and North Korea’s attack on Sony Pictures over the film The Interview. And yes, the west does it too – the United States used a cyber-weapon to take down Iran’s nuclear programme in 2010 – the so-called Stuxnet attack.

Related: WhatsApp spyware attack was attempt to hack human rights data, says lawyer

Related: The Guardian view on hacking: a dangerous arms trade | Editorial

Continue reading…

from Data and computer security | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2LGxnJb
via IFTTT

Supreme court says GCHQ’s hacking powers should be subject to judicial review

Government security decisions will in future be open to challenge in the courts after judges ruled that a secretive intelligence tribunal could not be exempt from legal action.

By a 4-3 majority, justices on the supreme court declared that the extent of GCHQ’s powers to hack into internet services should be subject to judicial review.

Related: GCHQ discloses secret location of former London office

Continue reading…

from Data and computer security | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2Q1JyyO
via IFTTT

Cyberweapons are dangerous in themselves. Their proliferation makes them much more harmful

NSO Group, an Israeli firm that has risen to a billion-dollar valuation on the strength of the aggressive hacking tools it sells to authoritarian governments across the Arab world, is being sued by lawyers and activists who claim to be victims of its software. One of the lawyers involved in the suit was targeted some weeks ago by mysterious WhatsApp calls to his phone in the middle of the night. When he contacted technical experts, they discovered Pegasus 3, an aggressive virus that can apparently install itself on a phone without the victim taking any action at all. Once installed, it takes control of the device, recording conversations and video. It can destroy the evidence of its own arrival and existence, and control any files on the device. In effect, it turns a smartphone into the perfect spying device, which the victim will carry everywhere with them.

Similar programs are widely available to abusers of all sorts, which is one reason why many domestic violence shelters ban the use of smartphones. But the ones that can easily be bought require some action from the victim, usually a misplaced click, or else a few moments’ access to their phone. The NSO malware targeting WhatsApp is different in that it could install itself without the victim doing anything at all. To discover and exploit the programming mistakes that opened this vulnerability would take years and cost millions of dollars. That is why it’s assumed that only states, or state-backed actors, have the resources to produce them.

Continue reading…

from Data and computer security | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2Vo4xNB
via IFTTT

NSO Group technology used against lawyer involved in civil case against the Israeli surveillance firm

The UK lawyer whose phone was targeted by spyware that exploits a WhatsApp vulnerability said it appeared to be a desperate attempt by someone to covertly find out the details of his human rights work.

The lawyer, who asked not to be named, is involved in a civil case brought against the Israeli surveillance company NSO Group whose sophisticated Pegasus malware has reportedly been used against Mexican journalists, and a prominent Saudi dissident living in Canada.

Related: WhatsApp urges users to update app after discovering spyware vulnerability

Users are strongly advised to check for WhatsApp updates manually through the Apple App Store on an iPhone, Google Play or similar on an Android device, the Microsoft Store on Windows Phones and the Galaxy app store on Tizen devices.

Related: Mexico accused of spying on journalists and activists using cellphone malware

Continue reading…

from Data and computer security | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2HjXSA4
via IFTTT

The spyware, developed by Israeli cyber intelligence company, used infected phone calls to take over the functions of operating systems

WhatsApp is encouraging users to update to the latest version of the app after discovering a vulnerability that allowed spyware to be injected into a user’s phone through the app’s phone call function.

The spyware was developed by the Israeli cyber intelligence company NSO Group, according to the Financial Times, which first reported the vulnerability.

Related: WhatsApp ‘deleting 2m accounts a month’ to stop fake news

Continue reading…

from Data and computer security | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2HmrHia
via IFTTT

The spyware, developed by Israeli cyber intelligence company, used infected phone calls to take over the functions of operating systems

WhatsApp is encouraging users to update to the latest version of the app after discovering a vulnerability that allowed spyware to be injected into a user’s phone through the app’s phone call function.

The spyware was developed by the Israeli cyber intelligence company NSO Group, according to the Financial Times, which first reported the vulnerability.

Related: WhatsApp ‘deleting 2m accounts a month’ to stop fake news

Continue reading…

from Data and computer security | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2HmrHia
via IFTTT

Despite privacy scandals, Facebook is more profitable than ever – journalists must use the tools of tech to understand why

A dark shadow looms over our networked world. It’s called the “privacy paradox”. The main commercial engine of this world involves erosion of, and intrusions upon, our privacy. Whenever researchers, opinion pollsters and other busybodies ask people if they value their privacy, they invariably respond with a resounding “yes”. The paradox arises from the fact that they nevertheless continue to use the services that undermine their beloved privacy.

If you want confirmation, then look no further than Facebook. In privacy-scandal terms, 2018 was an annus horribilis for the company. Yet the results show that by almost every measure that matters to Wall Street, it has had a bumper year. The number of daily active users everywhere is up; average revenue per user is up 19% on last year, while overall revenue for the last quarter of 2018 is 30.4% up on the same quarter in 2017. In privacy terms, the company should be a pariah. At least some of its users must be aware of this. But it apparently makes no difference to their behaviour.

Related: Secretive hard-Brexit Facebook campaign got 1m responses

Continue reading…

from Data and computer security | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2UYqfre
via IFTTT

Despite privacy scandals, Facebook is more profitable than ever – journalists must use the tools of tech to understand why

A dark shadow looms over our networked world. It’s called the “privacy paradox”. The main commercial engine of this world involves erosion of, and intrusions upon, our privacy. Whenever researchers, opinion pollsters and other busybodies ask people if they value their privacy, they invariably respond with a resounding “yes”. The paradox arises from the fact that they nevertheless continue to use the services that undermine their beloved privacy.

If you want confirmation, then look no further than Facebook. In privacy-scandal terms, 2018 was an annus horribilis for the company. Yet the results show that by almost every measure that matters to Wall Street, it has had a bumper year. The number of daily active users everywhere is up; average revenue per user is up 19% on last year, while overall revenue for the last quarter of 2018 is 30.4% up on the same quarter in 2017. In privacy terms, the company should be a pariah. At least some of its users must be aware of this. But it apparently makes no difference to their behaviour.

Related: Secretive hard-Brexit Facebook campaign got 1m responses

Continue reading…

from Data and computer security | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2UYqfre
via IFTTT