Pegasus explained: Who says the government doesn’t listen to its people?
Politics
‘The Pegasus Project’ was a consortium of news organizations including the likes of ‘The Guardian’, ‘Washington Post’, and ‘The Wire’ from India, investigating a leaked global database of 50,000 telephone numbers.
The numbers reportedly belong to business executives, religious figures, journalists, and government officials - including 300 ‘verified’ numbers of Indian origin (2 serving ministers in the Indian government, 3 opposition leaders, 1 Supreme Court justice, and 40 Indian journalists). It was found that the data breach could’ve been caused by malware infecting user devices.
What is Pegasus?
In 2016, a private Israeli surveillance company NSO group created perhaps one of the most intelligent spyware tools that could be licensed to governments around the world.
Pegasus, the hacking software, is capable of infecting billions of phones running on either iOS or Android operating systems. The phones then transformed into mass surveillance devices, give someone sitting thousands of miles away access to the user's photos, text messages, even turn on their cameras and microphones to record things in real-time.
How does it work?
Pegasus uses “zero-click” attacks, which do not require users to even interact with their phones. The software exploits vulnerabilities - flaws or bugs in an operating system that the mobile phone’s manufacturer does not know about yet or has not been able to fix.
In 2019, WhatsApp revealed Pegasus had infected 1,400 phones simply by placing a call to the target device, installing the code even if the target never answered the call. Similar vulnerabilities have been exploited in Apple’s iMessage.
Is the breach surely due to ‘Pegasus’?
While it isn’t possible to state whether a device was successfully compromised by Pegasus without technically analyzing the phone, reports suggest that the data is coincidental with NSO’s government clients’ potential ‘Persons of Interest’ in advance of possible surveillance attempts on them.
Additionally, Amnesty International’s Security Lab found traces of the spyware on the phones of 15 journalists who agreed to have their phones examined after discovering their number was in the leaked data.
Can a private party be responsible for this breach?
According to the NSO group, the software is licensed only to ‘vetted government customers for the sole purpose of saving lives through preventing crime and terror acts.’
NSO has also denied having access to the data post-licensing it to the client as well as any potential data leak from their servers.
What is the Indian government’s response?
In a letter shared with ANI, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has outrightly denied the allegations stating, ‘India is a robust democracy that is committed to ensuring the right to privacy to all the citizens as a fundamental right.’ It also stated that “the allegations regarding government surveillance on specific people have no concrete basis or truth.’
Other reactions
Yesterday, the Indian Parliament opened the Monsoon session with a row over ‘Pegasus’ from the opposition since Rahul Gandhi’s number was allegedly found in the database. Press Club of India stated, ‘the snooping has been done for ulterior motives’ and that ‘the first time in history, all pillars of our democracy - judiciary, parliamentarians, media, executives and ministers - have been spied upon.’
Which other country's governments have access to Pegasus?
Majority of the numbers in the database were concentrated in 10 country clusters: India, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Morocco, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Parliament monsoon session: Bills to be introduced
Politics
Parliament resumed on Monday (July 19) with Covid-19 protocol in place for members of both Houses, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The Monsoon Session, which is scheduled to be held between July 19 and August 13, will have 19 sittings.
According to PRS Legislative, there are 38 Bills pending in Parliament. Of these, 9 are listed for consideration and passing, while 17 are listed for introduction, consideration, and subsequent passing.
What to expect from the opposition?
One day after a stormy start, Parliament proceedings witnessed high-voltage protests by the opposition over the Pegasus surveillance reports today. Curiously, the timing of the data leak also coincides with the beginning of the session and thus, whether proven or not, Pegasus will continue to be a tense topic in the current session.
The Opposition is also expected to question the government over handling of the second wave and the continued increase in prices of fuels and cooking gas.
Some bills listed for consideration and passing:
The DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2019
The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens (Amendment) Bill, 2019
The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill, 2021
The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019 Prohibits commercial surrogacy and constitutes the National Surrogacy Board and respective State Surrogacy Boards to regulate the practice of surrogacy.
The National Institutes of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management Bill, 2021
Some bills listed for introduction and subsequent passing:
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill, 2021
The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2021
The Essential Defence Service Bill, 2021
The Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2021
The Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition and Development) Amendment Bill, 2021
The Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Bill, 2021
More details about some key bills:
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill, 2021
This bill puts forth a predetermined insolvency resolution process for corporate debtors to ensure a “quicker, cost-effective and value maximising outcome for all stakeholders involved”.
The Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Bill, 2021
It proposes a commission for Air Quality Management to facilitate greater public participation, inter-State cooperation, expert involvement and R&D to solve Delhi-NCR's air pollution problem.
The Essential Defence Service Bill, 2021
This bill replaces the Ordinance that allows the central government to prohibit strikes, lockouts, and layoffs in units engaged in essential defence services to ensure uninterrupted supply of arms, ammunition and other goods and service to the armed forces.
The Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2021
This bill aims to de-license the power distribution business (encouraging competition) and add a penalty for non-compliance of RPO, rights and duties of consumers. This will privatise power distribution and give consumers an option to choose from multiple service providers.
The Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill
This bill aims to fight trafficking of women and children and provide assistance and rehabilitation to the victims. It also seeks to ensure prosecution of offenders by providing legal, economic and social support for the victims.
The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2021 (PFRDA)
This bill aims to amend the original act. As announced in the Union Budget, 2021, the government will separate the National Pension System Trust (NPS) from PFRDA to ensure universal pension coverage.
Other bills
Other bills considered for tabling are the Indian Marine Fisheries Bill, 2021, Inland Vessels Bill, 2021, Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens (Amendment) Bill, 2019, National Institutes of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management Bill, the Tribunal Reforms (Rationalisation and Conditions of Service) Bill, 2021 etc.
However much anticipated, the Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021, that aims to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies has not been listed.
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