In light of the Pegasus spying scandal, Apple on Tuesday has filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent NSO Group from targeting the over one billion iPhones in circulation.

Silicon Valley giant's suit adds to the trouble that is plaguing NSO, an Israeli spyware maker embroiled in controversy over reports that tens of thousands of activists, journalists and politicians may be targeted by its Pegasus spyware.

Just weeks ago, the United States blacklisted NSO, restricting exports from American groups over claims that the Israeli firm "enabled foreign governments to conduct transnational repression."

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/pegasus-snooping-us-blacklists-spyware-maker-nso-group-for-maliciously-targetting-journalists-426591">Pegasus snooping: US blacklists spyware maker NSO Group for maliciously targetting journalists</a>

"To prevent further abuse and harm to its users, Apple is also seeking a permanent injunction to ban NSO Group from using any Apple software, services, or devices," Apple said in a statement announcing the lawsuit filed in US federal court in California.

"Defendants are notorious hackers — amoral 21st century mercenaries who have created highly sophisticated cyber-surveillance machinery that invites routine and flagrant abuse," the iPhone maker wrote in its case.

The NSO has consistently denied any wrongdoing and insisted its software is intended only for use by authorities in combating terrorism and other crimes.

"Pedophiles and terrorists can freely operate in technological safe-havens, and we provide governments the lawful tools to fight it. NSO group will continue to advocate for the truth," the firm said in a statement.

Watch |&nbsp;Gravitas: WION's take on the 'Pegasus Project'

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Through Pegasus, infected smartphones become pocket spying devices that allow users to read target's read messages, view photos, track location, and even turn on the camera without the target's knowledge.

Apple is not the first big tech firm to sue -- Facebook sued NSO Group in 2019, accusing it of carrying out cyber espionage against journalists, human rights activists, and others through WhatsApp.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in California alleges that approximately 1,400 devices were compromised with malicious software to steal valuable information.

"This can't be good news for NSO, which is reportedly in danger of default with over $500 million in debt, a recent leadership shakeup with their CEO, and France pulling out of a planned purchase after the US sanctions," said Jake Williams from cybersecurity firm BreachQuest.

The initial concern about Pegasus was followed by another wave of concerns when Apple released a "fix" in September for a vulnerability that allowed NSO's spyware to infect devices without the user even clicking on a malicious message or link.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/apple-issues-emergency-security-updates-to-close-a-spyware-flaw-413956">Apple issues emergency security updates to close a spyware flaw</a>

Scientists at Citizen Lab, a Canadian cybersecurity watchdog organization, discovered the so-called "zero click" attack that silently corrupts the targeted device.

On Tuesday, Apple said it is notifying a "small number" of users who may have been attacked in that way.

"Mercenary spyware firms like NSO Group have facilitated some of the world's worst human rights abuses and acts of transnational repression, while enriching themselves and their investors," said Citizen Lab director Ron Deibert.

(With inputs from agencies)

In light of the Pegasus spying scandal, Apple on Tuesday has filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent NSO Group from targeting the over one billion iPhones in circulation.

In light of the Pegasus spying scandal, Apple on Tuesday has filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent NSO Group from targeting the over one billion iPhones in circulation. Silicon Valley giant's suit adds to the trouble that is plaguing NSO, an Israeli spyware maker embroiled in controversy over reports that tens of thousands of activists, journalists and politicians may be targeted by its Pegasus spyware. Just weeks ago, the United States blacklisted NSO, restricting exports from American groups over claims that the Israeli firm "enabled foreign governments to conduct transnational repression." Also read | Pegasus snooping: US blacklists spyware maker NSO Group for maliciously targetting journalists "To prevent further abuse and harm to its users, Apple is also seeking a permanent injunction to ban NSO Group from using any Apple software, services, or devices," Apple said in a statement announcing the lawsuit filed in US federal court in California. "Defendants are notorious hackers — amoral 21st century mercenaries who have created highly sophisticated cyber-surveillance machinery that invites routine and flagrant abuse," the iPhone maker wrote in its case. The NSO has consistently denied any wrongdoing and insisted its software is intended only for use by authorities in combating terrorism and other crimes. "Pedophiles and terrorists can freely operate in technological safe-havens, and we provide governments the lawful tools to fight it. NSO group will continue to advocate for the truth," the firm said in a statement. Watch | Gravitas: WION's take on the 'Pegasus Project' Through Pegasus, infected smartphones become pocket spying devices that allow users to read target's read messages, view photos, track location, and even turn on the camera without the target's knowledge. Apple is not the first big tech firm to sue -- Facebook sued NSO Group in 2019, accusing it of carrying out cyber espionage against journalists, human rights activists, and others through WhatsApp. The lawsuit filed in federal court in California alleges that approximately 1,400 devices were compromised with malicious software to steal valuable information. "This can't be good news for NSO, which is reportedly in danger of default with over $500 million in debt, a recent leadership shakeup with their CEO, and France pulling out of a planned purchase after the US sanctions," said Jake Williams from cybersecurity firm BreachQuest. The initial concern about Pegasus was followed by another wave of concerns when Apple released a "fix" in September for a vulnerability that allowed NSO's spyware to infect devices without the user even clicking on a malicious message or link. Also read | Apple issues emergency security updates to close a spyware flaw Scientists at Citizen Lab, a Canadian cybersecurity watchdog organization, discovered the so-called "zero click" attack that silently corrupts the targeted device. On Tuesday, Apple said it is notifying a "small number" of users who may have been attacked in that way. "Mercenary spyware firms like NSO Group have facilitated some of the world's worst human rights abuses and acts of transnational repression, while enriching themselves and their investors," said Citizen Lab director Ron Deibert. (With inputs from agencies)

Pegasus snooping row: Apple files lawsuit against Israel's NSO

Amid China's recent feuds with multiple nations including the ongoing border standoff with India, a media report has claimed that a technology firm with links to the Chinese government is snooping on over 10,000 Indian individuals and organisations through a global database.

Zhenhua Data Information Technology Co. Limited, which is based in&nbsp;Shenzhen, has been tasked with monitoring over 10,000 prominent citizens including President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, among others, a report by The Indian Express has said.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/china-targets-indias-new-economy-snooping-on-online-ventures-and-tech-startups-327652">China targets India's economy: Snooping on online ventures and tech startups</a>

WION spoke to P Vaidyanathan Iyer, Executive Editor (National Affairs) at The Indian Express, who&nbsp;explained&nbsp;the process of uncovering data, of categorising it, and what it means.

<h6><img alt="aa" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="82a9972d-62e0-42e3-9c23-ce2de86c69a0" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/Untitled%20design%20%281%29_152.jpg" /> 
P Vaidyanathan Iyer, Executive Editor (National Affairs) at The Indian Express</h6>

&nbsp;

WION: Can you break down the process involved in this investigation? And how challenging was it?

Iyer: It started with a very innocuous LinkedIn message from a source in Vietnam who is an academician, who has worked with the HSBC business school in Shenzhen for about a decade. He said that he had got some information in which I would be interested in. It started off with that.

Generally what happens is - we get so many messages, so many calls, we tend to ignore them, or we don’t call them back. I genuinely respond to every message, and this was one of those messages I thankfully responded to. And then, that was the starting point.

I remember that date very distinctly, it was May 21. Over a period of time, we started discussing this with the source. Christopher Balding is the professor I was talking about. And another gentleman who is in Canberra - Robert Potter, who owns a cybersecurity firm and used to work with British aerospace.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/china-snooping-on-top-indian-politicians-defence-chiefs-and-news-media-editors-reports-327391" hreflang="en">China snooping on top Indian politicians, defence chiefs and news media editors: Reports</a>

He helped us put together the data in a format which is readable. This data had come to Christopher from a source who is connected to the company. There are reports that the information is stolen, but the whistleblower remains anonymous because of security concerns. This was the starting point, and then the data was put together in a manner that we could read, and we were given very specific access methodologies to get into the database online.

We were not allowed to download the whole database to your systems, because that is also a security risk. We were allowed access to the servers and this was a very painful and laborious task because these were log files. 10,000 odd log files were distributed between me, Jay Mazoomdaar, and Kaunain Sheriff. 

It took us a while to just sift through data, go one by one - a laborious exercise of looking at each link that had to opened up. Creating excel sheets, data sheets, sharing them, putting them together, kind of numbering them, putting them into different buckets. That was the process which took us almost 2 and a half months. And then, we could get the big picture of what this data is all about.

WION: We spoke to Robert Potter yesterday, who raised an alarm over the magnitude of the spying which is taking place, and he also compared this to the Cambridge Analytics case. What is your take?

Iyer: I think this is a monster of a data. Given the staggering scale, and scale in terms of geography - the number of countries about which the data has been collected; we can say that this is data which has escaped from all kinds of social media platforms and online forums, at a staggering scale of more than 50 billion data points collected over&nbsp;two years.

This company was set up in 2018 April, and they had begun work on it a year earlier.&nbsp; But the scale and depth of data is what was staggering. When you look at data, you don’t just look at personal information from various social media sites. That is one aspect, but the other critical aspect is: Do they really open up fields numbering into more fields. So that at a later date, that you keep collecting and building to this database. It is bothersome, and worrisome.&nbsp;

Watch the whole interview below:

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
A media report has said that China has reportedly been spying on over 10,000 prominent Indians. 
 
P Vaidyanathan Iyer (<a href="https://twitter.com/iyervaidy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@iyervaidy</a>), Executive Editor (National Affairs) Indian Express breaks down the process involved in this investigation.<a href="https://twitter.com/MollyGambhir?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MollyGambhir</a> brings you the story <a href="https://t.co/wL1bhK58rI">pic.twitter.com/wL1bhK58rI</a>
— WION (@WIONews) <a href="https://twitter.com/WIONews/status/1305814572465401858?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 15, 2020</a></blockquote>
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According to the investigative report published in the Indian Express, the company’s ‘Overseas Key Information Database (OKIDB)’, is monitoring a wide range of influential Indian individuals.OKIDB tracks targets without leaving any explicit footprint. 
 
The report also claimed that the top brass of the India’s Army, Judiciary, scientific establishments and news media are on the target list.

Amid China's recent feuds with multiple nations including the ongoing border standoff with India, a media report has claimed that a technology firm with links to the Chinese government is snooping on over 10,000 Indian individuals and organisations through a global database.

Amid China's recent feuds with multiple nations including the ongoing border standoff with India, a media report has claimed that a technology firm with links to the Chinese government is snooping on over 10,000 Indian individuals and organisations through a global database. Zhenhua Data Information Technology Co. Limited, which is based in Shenzhen, has been tasked with monitoring over 10,000 prominent citizens including President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, among others, a report by The Indian Express has said. Also read: China targets India's economy: Snooping on online ventures and tech startups WION spoke to P Vaidyanathan Iyer, Executive Editor (National Affairs) at The Indian Express, who explained the process of uncovering data, of categorising it, and what it means. P Vaidyanathan Iyer, Executive Editor (National Affairs) at The Indian Express WION: Can you break down the process involved in this investigation? And how challenging was it? Iyer: It started with a very innocuous LinkedIn message from a source in Vietnam who is an academician, who has worked with the HSBC business school in Shenzhen for about a decade. He said that he had got some information in which I would be interested in. It started off with that. Generally what happens is - we get so many messages, so many calls, we tend to ignore them, or we don’t call them back. I genuinely respond to every message, and this was one of those messages I thankfully responded to. And then, that was the starting point. I remember that date very distinctly, it was May 21. Over a period of time, we started discussing this with the source. Christopher Balding is the professor I was talking about. And another gentleman who is in Canberra - Robert Potter, who owns a cybersecurity firm and used to work with British aerospace. Also read: China snooping on top Indian politicians, defence chiefs and news media editors: Reports He helped us put together the data in a format which is readable. This data had come to Christopher from a source who is connected to the company. There are reports that the information is stolen, but the whistleblower remains anonymous because of security concerns. This was the starting point, and then the data was put together in a manner that we could read, and we were given very specific access methodologies to get into the database online. We were not allowed to download the whole database to your systems, because that is also a security risk. We were allowed access to the servers and this was a very painful and laborious task because these were log files. 10,000 odd log files were distributed between me, Jay Mazoomdaar, and Kaunain Sheriff. It took us a while to just sift through data, go one by one - a laborious exercise of looking at each link that had to opened up. Creating excel sheets, data sheets, sharing them, putting them together, kind of numbering them, putting them into different buckets. That was the process which took us almost 2 and a half months. And then, we could get the big picture of what this data is all about. WION: We spoke to Robert Potter yesterday, who raised an alarm over the magnitude of the spying which is taking place, and he also compared this to the Cambridge Analytics case. What is your take? Iyer: I think this is a monster of a data. Given the staggering scale, and scale in terms of geography - the number of countries about which the data has been collected; we can say that this is data which has escaped from all kinds of social media platforms and online forums, at a staggering scale of more than 50 billion data points collected over two years. This company was set up in 2018 April, and they had begun work on it a year earlier. But the scale and depth of data is what was staggering. When you look at data, you don’t just look at personal information from various social media sites. That is one aspect, but the other critical aspect is: Do they really open up fields numbering into more fields. So that at a later date, that you keep collecting and building to this database. It is bothersome, and worrisome. Watch the whole interview below: A media report has said that China has reportedly been spying on over 10,000 prominent Indians. P Vaidyanathan Iyer (@iyervaidy), Executive Editor (National Affairs) Indian Express breaks down the process involved in this investigation.@MollyGambhir brings you the story pic.twitter.com/wL1bhK58rI — WION (@WIONews) September 15, 2020 × According to the investigative report published in the Indian Express, the company’s ‘Overseas Key Information Database (OKIDB)’, is monitoring a wide range of influential Indian individuals.OKIDB tracks targets without leaving any explicit footprint. The report also claimed that the top brass of the India’s Army, Judiciary, scientific establishments and news media are on the target list.

'Staggering scale of data': P Vaidyanathan Iyer, journalist who unearthed China's 'Snoopgate' speaks to WION

A news report has revealed that a technology firm with links to the Chinese government is snooping on over 10,000 Indian individuals and organisations through global database including fields like politics, business, sports and media.

The list includes President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi, Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Singh Rawat to at least 15 former Chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force. The list also includes WION's Editor-in-Chief, Sudhir Chaudhary who has been targeted over WION's critical and incisive coverage of the country.

In an exclusive conversation with WION, Robert Potter, Canberra-based cybersecurity, tech and data expert, who worked with the source to verify the electronic antecedents of the Zhenhua data set speaks about how he unmasked the data.

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/china-snooping-on-top-indian-politicians-defence-chiefs-and-news-media-editors-reports-327391">China snooping on top Indian politicians, defence chiefs &amp; news media editors</a>

"We worked for three months to restore the version of the data. It is a very interesting and ambitious data set and since in alignment with the objectives of the company who talks about using it for the purposes of engaging in Hybrid Warfare and political influence operations", said Robert Potter&nbsp;when asked about his engagements in verifying the electronic antecedents of the data set.

A Chinese firm called Zhenhua Data Information Technology Co. Limited, which is based in Shenzen has been tasked with monitoring over 10,000 prominent citizens as part of what is known as "Hybrid warfare"- &nbsp;using non-military tools. These tools include, in its own words, “information pollution, perception management and propaganda.”

When asked how Beijing is exploiting data, Robert said, &nbsp;"It's possible to scrape open-source (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok) data and use that to create a profile of the person. This information, in this case, was also combined with data from anti-money laundering systems. They attack through those systems and all of that data is put together to create a profile of the human political information and technology terrain of the country to make it easier to understand that influence."

Also read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/rattled-by-zee-groups-coverage-china-puts-spies-on-editor-in-chief-sudhir-chaudhary-report-327401" hreflang="en">Rattled by Zee’s coverage,China puts spies on Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary</a>

This comes amid escalating tensions between India and China along the Line of actual control in Ladakh. Understanding the impact between relations of the two counties, Robert believes that "China and India are capable economies with a role to play in the global stage, degree of which comes with scrutiny. And if China wants to play in the top ring with the biggest countries in the world, they can expect this sort of scrutiny on their way", he added.

Talking about the reach of such target, Robert firmly believes that "where there is power, the company attempts to collect the information".

Speaking about the importance of strengthening the security of platforms, he said that, "we also have to accept that there's a certain risk because the Chinese government doesn't seem to acknowledge the same norms of privacy that Democratic countries like Australia and India do".

A news report has revealed that a technology firm with links to the Chinese government is snooping on over 10,000 Indian individuals and organisations through global database including fields like politics, business, sports and media.

A news report has revealed that a technology firm with links to the Chinese government is snooping on over 10,000 Indian individuals and organisations through global database including fields like politics, business, sports and media. The list includes President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi, Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Singh Rawat to at least 15 former Chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force. The list also includes WION's Editor-in-Chief, Sudhir Chaudhary who has been targeted over WION's critical and incisive coverage of the country. In an exclusive conversation with WION, Robert Potter, Canberra-based cybersecurity, tech and data expert, who worked with the source to verify the electronic antecedents of the Zhenhua data set speaks about how he unmasked the data. Also read: China snooping on top Indian politicians, defence chiefs & news media editors "We worked for three months to restore the version of the data. It is a very interesting and ambitious data set and since in alignment with the objectives of the company who talks about using it for the purposes of engaging in Hybrid Warfare and political influence operations", said Robert Potter when asked about his engagements in verifying the electronic antecedents of the data set. A Chinese firm called Zhenhua Data Information Technology Co. Limited, which is based in Shenzen has been tasked with monitoring over 10,000 prominent citizens as part of what is known as "Hybrid warfare"- using non-military tools. These tools include, in its own words, “information pollution, perception management and propaganda.” When asked how Beijing is exploiting data, Robert said, "It's possible to scrape open-source (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok) data and use that to create a profile of the person. This information, in this case, was also combined with data from anti-money laundering systems. They attack through those systems and all of that data is put together to create a profile of the human political information and technology terrain of the country to make it easier to understand that influence." Also read: Rattled by Zee’s coverage,China puts spies on Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary This comes amid escalating tensions between India and China along the Line of actual control in Ladakh. Understanding the impact between relations of the two counties, Robert believes that "China and India are capable economies with a role to play in the global stage, degree of which comes with scrutiny. And if China wants to play in the top ring with the biggest countries in the world, they can expect this sort of scrutiny on their way", he added. Talking about the reach of such target, Robert firmly believes that "where there is power, the company attempts to collect the information". Speaking about the importance of strengthening the security of platforms, he said that, "we also have to accept that there's a certain risk because the Chinese government doesn't seem to acknowledge the same norms of privacy that Democratic countries like Australia and India do".

'China doesn't acknowledge same norm of privacy like Australia & India do': Robert Potter, who exposed Snoopgate tells WION

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