WhatsApp CEO: US Allies’ National Security Officials Targeted with NSO Malware

This article has been indexed from E Hacking News – Latest Hacker News and IT Security News

According to WhatsApp CEO Will Cathcart, governments used NSO group malware to target high-ranking government officials all around the world. 

Cathcart addressed the spyware assaults discovered by the Project Pegasus inquiry with The Guardian, noting they are similar to a 2019 attack against 1,400 WhatsApp users. 

Cathcart added, “The reporting matches what we saw in the attack we defeated two years ago, it is very consistent with what we were loud about then. This should be a wake-up call for security on the internet … mobile phones are either safe for everyone or they are not safe for everyone.” 

NSO Group’s military-grade spyware is suspected of being utilized against heads of state, cabinet members, activists, and journalists. Over 50,000 phone numbers have been leaked from the Pegasus project’s central breach. The inclusion of a person’s phone number on the list, however, does not always indicate that they were efficiently targeted, according to The Guardian. 

The leak is said to have included French President Emmanuel Macron, although NSO denies that none of its clients targeted Macron. The IT company also stated that the reported 50,000 figure was overstated.