Government asks explanation from WhatsApp over Israeli Spyware Pegasus
Ravi Shankar Prasad
The Indian government has asked WhatsApp for an explanation on the snowballing snooping scandal.
The information technology ministry has asked for a detailed response from WhatsApp on the issue of Israeli spyware that allegedly targeted Indian journalists and human rights activists through its platform.
The ministry has written to the Facebook-owned messaging company, seeking its response on the matter.
Facebook owned-WhatsApp had earlier confirmed that Indian journalists and human rights activists were among those globally spied upon by Israeli spyware called Pegasus.
The journalists and activists are believed to have been targets of surveillance for two weeks until May when the national election was held.
The users were informed about the hacking spree just before Facebook sued the Israeli cybersecurity company NSO on Tuesday. WhatsApp's parent company Facebook has alleged that NSO had spread malware to around one thousand and four hundred users across twenty countries.
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However, it did not say on whose behest the phones of journalists and activists across the world were targeted.
India's technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has put out a tweet explaining the govt position on the WhatsApp spyware attack controversy. The minister has said that WhatsApp has been asked to explain the nature of the breach and the steps being taken to protect the privacy of Indians using the social media platform.
He has gone on to say that there is a proper procedure & protocols in place for an interception which needs sanction from senior-level authorities for clearly stated reasons for national interests.
Now, WhatsApp has been asked to submit a reply by November 4.
WhatsApp has over 1.5 billion users globally, of which India alone has accounted for about 400 million users.