India targeted Top Journalists with Pegasus Spyware

It has been revealed that India’s government used Pegasus spyware to target high-profile journalists.

An investigation by Amnesty International and The Washington Post noted India’s repeated use of Pegasus against journalists.

This included one who was previously a victim of an attack using the same spyware.

Pegasus was created by the Israeli firm NSO Group. It can be used to access a phone’s messages and emails, monitor photos, eavesdrop on calls, track locations and even film the owner with the camera.

NSO says the spyware is only sold to governments or security agencies.

However, there is documented widespread use of Pegasus against journalists and activists in dozens of countries, including India.

According to Amnesty, journalists Siddharth Varadarajan, founding editor of The Wire, and Anand Mangnale, South Asia editor at The Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), had been targeted with the spyware on their iPhones, with the latest identified case in October 2023.

Donncha O Cearbhaill, the head of Amnesty’s Security Lab, said:

“Increasingly, journalists in India face the threat of unlawful surveillance simply for doing their jobs, alongside other tools of repression including imprisonment under draconian laws, smear campaigns, harassment and intimidation.

“Despite repeated revelations, there has been a shameful lack of accountability about the use of Pegasus spyware in India which only intensifies the sense of impunity over these human rights violations.”

Evidence from Mangnale’s device identified a zero-click exploit was sent to his phone.

A zero-click exploit refers to malicious software that allows spyware to be installed on a device without the user needing to click on a link.

In October, Apple issued threat notifications globally to iPhone users who may have been targeted by “state-sponsored attackers”.

Over 20 journalists and opposition politicians in India reportedly received the notifications.

Amnesty said Mangnale’s phone was targeted when he was on a story about alleged stock manipulation by a multinational conglomerate in India.

In August 2023, the OCCRP published an investigation into the financial dealings of tycoon and Narendra Modi ally Gautam Adani.

Mangnale claimed he was targeted “within hours” of sending questions to the Adani Group.

Varadarajan implied he had been targeted for leading opposition to the detention of a prominent news publisher in New Delhi.

His phone was hacked with Pegasus in 2018.

In 2021, the Indian government was accused of using Pegasus to monitor journalists, opposition politicians and activists.

Leaked documents showed that the spyware had been used against over 1,000 Indian phone numbers.

O Cearbhaill added: “Targeting journalists solely for doing their work amounts to an unlawful attack on their privacy and violates their right to freedom of expression.

“All states, including India, have an obligation to protect human rights by protecting people from unlawful surveillance.”

According to activists, press freedom in India has declined during Modi’s tenure.

Since taking office in 2014, India has fallen to 161 out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index.