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A vulnerability in WhatsApp, the end-to-end encrypted messaging app used by 1.5bn people around the world, allowed attackers to inject iPhones and Androids with spyware, the FT has discovered. Here’s what we know: on.ft.com/2HmntHj
The malicious code could infect phones by sending calls even if they were unanswered. The calls disappeared from call logs, so users often had no warning their phones had been breached. ft.com/content/4da111… 
WhatsApp, which discovered the vulnerability in early May, said it is too early in their investigation to estimate how many users have been affected. ft.com/content/4da111…
The spyware was developed by secretive Israeli company NSO Group. The company’s flagship product is Pegasus, a program that can:
- Activate phone microphones and cameras
- Trawl through emails and messages
- Collect location data
ft.com/content/4da111…
- Activate phone microphones and cameras
- Trawl through emails and messages
- Collect location data
ft.com/content/4da111…
NSO says Pegasus is intended for governments to combat terrorism, track drug cartels and foil child kidnappings. But journalists from Mexico to Saudi Arabia say the $1bn company’s knowhow also helped regimes to spy on dissidents. Our Big Read has more: ft.com/content/7f2f39…
NSO’s cyberweapons also won Israel leverage with dozens of unlikely allies eager to exploit their technological expertise, including Bahrain, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates ft.com/content/7f2f39…
On Tuesday, NSO will face a legal challenge to block its ability to export its software. Amnesty International, which identified an attempt to hack one of its researcher’s phones, is backing the lawsuit. ft.com/content/4da111…
