Some South African phones have been infected by Pegasus, a notorious surveillance software that is sold only to governments. bit.ly/2Qoe05i
In a report titled ‘Hide and Seek’ which was released on Monday, Citizen Lab — a Canada based internet watchdog — identified 45 countries in which infected devices have been traced, after scanning the internet for servers associated with Pegasus spyware.
Twelve African countries, including South Africa, are on the list. Journalists have been warned to be extra-vigilant with their digital security, @simonallison reports.
Here is a global map of suspected NSO Pegasus infections, compiled by @citizenlab. 
Pegasus works on phones running Android, BlackBerry OS, and iOS operating software. It can be installed simply by clicking on a link, which is often designed to look like a message from a source or a breaking news story.
We have reached out to South Africa’s ministry of state security for comment.
