The Spanish PM and the defence minister were infected by Pegasus (in Spanish)

Most the of the conversation around Pegasus has rightly focused around how shocking and casual the widespread sale and use of this malware is.<p>But, I wonder if there&#x27;s another story here: nearly all world leaders have a target-able device with cameras, microphones, GPS, and personal and professional conversations (and therefore contact lists) which they carry with them 24&#x2F;7. At what point does the risk outweigh the convenience? I&#x27;m not sure what the solution is, but I wish that smartphones were not seen as a default necessity for everybody. Risks such as Pegasus are introduced, and it seems hard to go back to how things were.

Every time I heard from Pegasus I wonder why nobody is talking about how illegal this business is and how EU and other countries are talking nothing about the use of this.

Here an english article: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.reuters.com&#x2F;world&#x2F;europe&#x2F;spanish-prime-ministers-telephone-infected-by-pegasus-spyware-2022-05-02&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.reuters.com&#x2F;world&#x2F;europe&#x2F;spanish-prime-ministers...</a>

As all these damn names blend together, Pegasus is the Israeli NSO Group&#x27;s spyware. Usually you could read the article to be reminded which spyware it was, but this is in Spanish and the term &quot;NSO&quot; isn&#x27;t on the page.

I wonder how many more high-profile targets will be revealed before anything is done. Last I remember, Israel said it&#x27;s not at any fault and that Pegasus was a defensive project or some such excuse.

This comes timely after the &quot;catalangate&quot; <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;citizenlab.ca&#x2F;2022&#x2F;04&#x2F;catalangate-extensive-mercenary-spyware-operation-against-catalans-using-pegasus-candiru&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;citizenlab.ca&#x2F;2022&#x2F;04&#x2F;catalangate-extensive-mercenar...</a><p>The case had already escalated to the EU.

Well, if you can get your device infected by playing Candy Crush and similar, I expect the entire Spanish parliament to be spied by Pegasus: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=xfcIMCYXSxQ" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=xfcIMCYXSxQ</a>

Since NSO claimed that they only sold to national governments, this means Pegasus was used cross-border, or NSO lied about that. (maybe both)

In seriousness, who (that the Israelis would sell to) would target the Spanish PM &amp; Defense Minister?<p>This is clearly a use-case of military espionage, not of an intrusive police state.<p>Leaving questions of tools and their creators aside, who is making these decisions and why?

Are there technical details about Pegasus available?<p>If the public could look into the installed executable, map out its internals, see the attack vector,... then some countermeasures could be developed by interested people.<p>Sunlight is the best disinfectant.

The PROMIS scandal (involving none other than ghislaine maxwell&#x27;s father Robert Maxwell) is an interesting historical on where we are today and who the west should consider as an ally with regards to creating malicious software in order violate human rights.

The fact that states control these programs like military weapons makes things really murky. Is Apple even allowed to buy a copy and close all the backdoors it uses? Or sue the Israeli government for compromising their operating systems? I doubt it.

It almost seems like Pegasus has been used most heavily against the allies of the US.