Security News > 2022 > May > India's ongoing outrage over Pegasus malware tells a bigger story about privacy law problems

There's one nation where outrage about Pegasus has been constant for nearly a year and shows little sign of abating: India.

A quick recap: Pegasus was created by Israeli outfit NSO Group, which marketed the product as "Preventing crime and terror acts" and promised it would only sell the software to governments it had vetted, and for approved purposes like taking down terrorists or targeting criminals who abuse children.

The mere implication that India's government had turned Pegasus against political opponents was dynamite and complaints poured in from those who felt they had been targeted.

Logically, if NSO only sells Pegasus to governments, the malware must have either been used by the Indian government or against Indian citizens by a foreign government - a point noted by politicians, think tanks and nonprofits like the Internet Freedom Foundation, alike.

Those laws allow for interception but not to the extent of hijacking and weaponizing a phone in the way Pegasus makes possible.

Nor is outrage about how the lack of a robust data law affords India's government a loophole that could allow it to use Pegasus to target opponents.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2022/05/08/pegasus_india_data_law_controversy/