Pegasus spyware appeared on the iPhone of a Jordanian journalist, this time a human rights defender. Pegasus spyware and its rivals Cytrox Predator and NSO Group’s QuaDream have long been hijacking sensitive and personal information on people’s phones. This time, he infiltrated the iPhone of an award-winning journalist and seized the device.
Pegasus spyware appeared on journalist Suhair Jaradat’s iPhone!
Most malware settles on a phone or smart device user when they click on a link in a simple message. However, Pegasus spyware and its rivals Cytrox Predator and NSO Group’s QuaDream manage to settle on the device of the person you send the message to, even if there is no click.
Moreover, unlike most malware, even if you turn off the phone or start it in safe mode, it continues to work actively in the background as soon as you turn it on. Although some people have managed to detect similar software since their devices overheated when not in use, Pegasus is very difficult to detect.
According to the latest news, this software was detected on the iPhone of a Jordanian journalist and human rights defender, Suhair Jaradat. It is also noteworthy that this incident happened after Apple filed a lawsuit against NSO Group, the maker of the related spyware, to prevent it from targeting its customers.
Analysts, who checked where Jaradat’s Pegasus software was infected, revealed that it was through a link in a message from WhatsApp. In addition, it was stated that hacking attempts were made to the same device several times in the past months, including some unsuccessful attempts.
It is alleged that officials within the Jordanian government paid NSO Group to infiltrate this device. Many of Jaradat’s human rights defenders, lawyers and journalist colleagues have also been subjected to similar attacks.
