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Hearing the word “Spyware”, you might be concerned that your mobile phone or other devices are still safe or not. Not only the spyware you have to be worried about, there is also Pegasus spyware. What’s that? Before getting more anxious about it, let’s get to know both spyware and Pegasus spyware first. Let’s see what they can do, how they can hack your phones, do you have a chance to encounter Pegasus spyware and how dangerous it is.
Spyware is a type of malicious software that steals information and files in your drive, your bank account information or credit card information, tracks login credentials, and monitors all your internet activities. It is like a spy in a movie but instead of breaking into the building to install a wiretap, spyware invades your computer or smartphone device.
Spyware can interfere with your device usage, secretly install any applications, and redirect the address of the website. Some types of spyware can slow down your hardware and network connections by changing your software and web browser configurations.
Pegasus spyware is developed by the Israeli company NSO Group. It can record your calls, copy messages you send or receive and harvest your photos. When your smartphone is attacked by Pegasus spyware, it can secretly view your data and your call history, copy the messages, harvest your photos, and film you via your phone’s camera. It can even secretly activate the microphone to record your conversations. Moreover, it can pinpoint where you are and know whom you have been met by getting data from the application, email and contact list in your phone.
This spyware can infect billions of phones running popular mobile operating systems like iOS or Android. The earliest version of Pegasus was discovered and captured by researchers in 2016. It was captured through spear-phishing which is a text message or an email that tricks the target into clicking on a malicious link. However, the recent Pegasus penetrates a device with a zero-click attack. This is a bug in the operating system that mobile phone manufacturers are still unaware of and cannot fix it.
In case your mobile phone is infected with Pegasus spyware, what will happen?
It allows the attacker to obtain root privileges or administrative privileges on the device, so Pegasus has more privilege to control the device than the device owner.
Pegasus spyware is the most sophisticated smartphone attack ever developed because NSO Group has made it difficult to detect.
Security researchers suspect that the latest version of Pegasus resides only in the phone’s temporary memory rather than its hard drive. This means that when the device is powered off, no traces of Pegasus spyware can be detected. Therefore, even the most security-conscious mobile phone user cannot prevent an attack.
How do you know if you’ve been attacked by Pegasus spyware?
Prinya Hom-Anek, Information Technology and Information Security specialist suggested as follows:
- Check if there is any strange application running in the background or not and always check whether the battery drains faster than usual or not.
- Notice that during your sleep time or while you are not using the phone, there is any application using the internet to secretly send confidential information or not.
- Android users should check through the antivirus application because it will inform the users if there is any strange application embedded in the device. Anyway, iOS doesn’t provide such function for iOS users.
How to prevent Pegasus spyware
Prinya Hom-Anek also suggested that it is necessary for users to keep checking the security news to realize that iOS or Android operating system they are using has any vulnerabilities or not. In addition, users should regularly update the OS and applications to the latest version. By doing these, you can prevent up to 90% of Pegasus spyware attacks.
In conclusion, everyone should be careful and aware of cyber security threats, especially when clicking links or downloading apps to install on mobile phones. If you found any apps are at risk or they are secretly transmitting data while you are sleeping, you should delete them immediately. Moreover, you should also educate and keep an eye on your children and the elderly in your family as they may not understand this enough.
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