iPhones, Android mobiles at risk of new Pegasus samples: Report

A mobile security company's research identified undetected Pegasus spyware infection on both iPhones and Android devices of everyday users, contrary to the popular video that the Pegasus attacks only high-profile individuals.

As per a report on iverify, Pegasus "represents a pinnacle of invasive spyware technology" that can gain complete device control including access to messages, call logs photos, emails and create an infection without any user interaction, hence leading to zero-click attacks. When it comes to operating system vulnerabilities, both iOS and Android are at a risk of exploitation by this spyware.

A May 2024 investigation conducted by iverify revealed five unique variants of the spyware across iOS and Android phones and detected forensic artifacts in diagnostic data, shutdown logs, and crash logs.

This investigation was performed with the help of a Mobile Threat Hunting feature that allowed users to run a one-time threat verification on their devices via the iVerify app. This revealed that the spyware was hiding in plain site on mobile devices and was going undetected by traditional security measures.

The scan that was conducted on 2,500 devices revealed 2.5 infected devices per 1,000 scans.

"The results of those scans validated what we already assumed: if you scan for it, you will find it. We uncovered seven Pegasus infections – a number that might seem small, but represents a massive red flag in the world of mobile security," the report noted.

Pegasus spyware has often made its way into political discussion in India. Last year, Rahul Gandhi at Cambridge University claimed that several politicians, including himself, were under surveillance and that Indian democracy was under threat. Raking up the Pegasus snooping issue, Gandhi had alleged that the Israeli spyware was installed on the phones of a large number of politicians, including him.

"Indian democracy is under pressure and under attack. The institutional framework which is required for a democracy... Parliament, free press, the judiciary, just the idea of mobilisation--these are all getting constrained. We are facing an attack on the basic structure of democracy," he had said.

In a Financial Times report published last year, it was claimed that India intercepts personal data through a 'backdoor' which allows the Narendra Modi government to spy on the nation's 1.4 billion citizens.