Thread by @santhoshd

Rumours, of the tapping of Indian political, judicial & media figures, using Israeli NSO Group's Pegasus platform, are circulating. The Modi govt has allegedly purchased the platform (Pegasus is only sold to govt agencies).

This thread might be worth re-visiting:

https://twitter.com/santhoshd/status/1189943847578587136

Compromising phones thru Pegasus mirrors the phishing attacks that allegedly compromised computers of civil activists Rona Wilson & Surendra Gadling and planting of forged documents in the #bhimakoregaon "case":

https://twitter.com/santhoshd/status/1384746916349562881

Some seem to think that anyone can buy a copy of Pegasus in the local Chroma outlet. The vendor, NSO, sells it only to Govt agencies. Also, NSO is supervised by Israeli Ministry of Defence like other Israeli Def/Sec vendors.
israeldefense.co.il/en/node/44436

Here's today's Pegasus story:
thewire.in/government/pro…

The key reveal for India: 40 journalists, 3 Opposition politicians, 1 Constitutional Authority, 2 Union Ministers (!), scores of business persons are part of the list accessed by @FbdnStories and @amnesty, according to the story by @svaradarajan...

.@FbdnStories provides a brief context to #ProjectPegasus - people across the world targeted using Pegasus by government surveillance.

The @FbdnStories' article names @bainjal, @rohini_sgh, @svaradarajan, @mkvenu1, @DevirupaM, @paranjoygt and other journalists from @the_hindu, @IndianExpress, @htTweets, @IndiaToday, @thetribunechd & @TheDailyPioneer as alleged Pegasus targets:
forbiddenstories.org/pegasus-the-ne…

The @guardian #PegasusProject article by @skirchy, @PaulLewis, @davidtpegg, @itsibitzi reveals sadly that Cecilio Birto - journalist killed by a hit squad in 03/17 - was on the list. Other journalists included @khalafroula, @Khadija_Ismayil & @bradleyhope.
theguardian.com/world/2021/jul…

Perhaps this is ironic, given that the entire Pegasus story is about snooping on devices, but ANI actually posted screenshots of an email sent by the Additional Secretary of MeiTY to @jslaternyc!

Are we getting it all wrong? It's not the Modi Govt, it is ANI! 😁

Forged docs planted in Gadling/Wilson's computers, two #BhimaKoregaon accused, are now the prima facie "evidence" preventing them from getting bail. @sukanyashantha writes on 8 accused whose names appear in the Pegasus list @FbdnStories & @amnesty accessed
thewire.in/rights/elgar-p…

Another article, also by @sukanyashantha, describes how the phone of Syed Abdul Rahman Geelani, former DU prof, was targeted twice using Pegasus:
thewire.in/rights/sar-gee…

The digital forensics @amnesty's Security Lab used to validate that Pegasus had compromised devices owned by many journalists & rights activists are explained here:
amnesty.org/en/latest/rese…

Based on the @AnujSrivas & @kabira_tweeting article [ thewire.in/media/pegasus-… ], a snapshot of Indian journalists whose names were on the Pegasus list.

Their article also describes results of digital forensics conducted by @amnesty & @citizenlab on some of the phones.

Worth recalling @citizenlab's India-related 2018 findings. Based on digital fingerprints & autonomous system numbers (ASN), they'd delineated a Pegasus server cluster that tracked Indian mobile phones & the networks those numbers belonged to.
Report: citizenlab.ca/2018/09/hide-a…

For those looking for high level Pegasus tech detail, this document is useful. IIRC, @wikileaks got it as part of a mail leak from Italian surveillance vendor Hacking Team. The image from the doc describes the data Pegasus collects. Essentially everything.
s3.documentcloud.org/documents/4599…

Day 2 of the #PegasusSnoopgate: @RahulGandhi, and close associates Sachin Rao, Alankar Sawai and 5 others (unnamed) were targeted for surveillance using Pegasus.
thewire.in/government/rah…

Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw (the man who just claimed no "unauthorized" surveillance occurred), Minister Prahlad Patel, Pravin Togadia, Smriti Irani's former OSD Sanjay Kachroo and Vasundhara Raje Scindia's former personal secretary Pradeep Awasthi too...
thewire.in/politics/bjp-m…

Ashok Lavasa, former Election Commissioner, immediately after he opined that Modi had violated the Election Model Code of Conduct.
thewire.in/government/peg…

Abhishek Banerjee, nephew of Mamata Banerjee, & Prashant Kishor were targeted. Digital forensics by @amnesty's Security Lab and @citizenlab confirmed that Kishor's phone was infected...
thewire.in/government/pra…

11 phones belonging to the woman, who accused the then CJ Ranjan Gogoi of sexual harassment, and her family were potentially targeted by Pegasus just days after she filed an affidavit in Apr 2019.
thewire.in/rights/ranjan-…

Other names that featured on the #PegasusSnoopgate list include
eminent virologist @GKangInd,
@adrspeaks head @JagdeepChhokar,
@gatesfoundation India head @MHariMenon...

The Pegasus net was apparently widely cast.
thewire.in/government/peg…

An interesting point from @safimichael's article in @guardian on the Pegasus targeting of @RahulGandhi:

Selection of Indian numbers started around Modi’s 2017 trip to Israel. Bibi & Modi walked on a beach even as Indians began to be targeted.
theguardian.com/news/2021/jul/…

While #PegasusProject revelations on India keep getting added to this thread, pausing to thank @PhineasJFR, his editors, @sandrinerigaud & @laurentrichard0 & the entire @FbdnStories team who helped unravel the data, forensics & stories!
theguardian.com/world/commenti…

A potential international relations mess:
Dozens of Delhi-based diplomats/ambassadors from Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, China, Nepal and Saudi Arabia show up on the #PegasusProject India List - @jubouissou writes for @lemondefr
lemonde.fr/projet-pegasus…

The Solicitor General is the perfect lawyer to represent a govt that is Vishwaguru in duplicity.

Claims that to answer the simple question of whether any Govt agency anywhere in India has procured Pegasus, a "technical" committee is needed.

https://twitter.com/LiveLawIndia/status/1427168541590003713

US blacklists NSO Group, says #PegasusSnoopgate shows it was used by foreign govts to maliciously target officials, journalists, activists, academics, etc.

Maskless Hugger Modi meanwhile doesn't care abt viruses of any kind.
thewire.in/tech/us-entity…

Explosive @a_greenberg story: @juanandres_gs & @TomHegel of @SentinelOne analyzed the hacking of Rona Wilson & Varavara Rao's mails/computers via spyware/#Pegasus, & found compelling links to a Pune police inspector involved in the Bhima Koregaon case.
wired.com/story/modified…