French President Macron spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to make sure the Israeli government was “properly investigating” the allegations..
Pegasus ‘Snooping’ has shaken world politics after the exposure of a consortium of 1 media houses. There have been mixed reactions from people accused of snooping and the government being accused of snooping.
Speaking of the house, the Indian government has so far maintained that this has been done to discredit Indian democracy.
IT Minister and NSO
The very next day after the first set of stories of the Pegasus project broke, the newly appointed IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnav entered the Lok Sabha to give an explanation. In a desperate attempt to refute this allegation, Shri. Vaishnav stressed that the mere presence of numbers in the accused list did not mean that they were attacked.
However, the IT minister surprised many by mentioning a statement made by NSO Group, an Israeli company owned by Pegasus Spyware. Mr. In his speech, Vaishnav said that the allegations have been refuted by the NSO itself. It is claimed that the report is based on “misleading explanations” of leaked information.
At a time when the NSO was being accused of using its software for snooping on journalists, activists, politicians, human rights defenders and government officials, India’s IT minister valued the NSO’s statement and referred to it in Parliament. The allegations against the group should have been investigated, raising a number of questions about the Government of India’s willingness to do so.
However, as a contradiction of the Indian government’s silence on the issue, many foreign countries have exposed it and ordered appropriate action.
In this article, let us see how different government companies around the world reacted to this story.
Macron called Bennett
The Pegasus report reveals that Moroccan intelligence agencies, including President Emmanuel Macron, may have targeted a number of French nationals. At the heart of the revelations is a list of the president’s list of 1,000,000.
On Sunday, French President Macron spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Naphtali Bennett to make sure the Israeli government is “properly investigating” allegations that the Israeli government could be targeted by Israeli-made spyware through Morocco’s security services.
In a phone call, Macron expressed concern about the hacking software developed by the Israeli surveillance company NSO Group, which may have infected Pegasus with his phone and most of his cabinet.
A Macron-Bennett phone call was made on Thursday, but it was first reported by Israel’s Channel 12 News on Saturday evening after the end of the Jewish holiday.
According to Channel 12, an unnamed source said Bennett had stressed that alleged incidents had taken place before he took office in May, and that the commission was investigating whether the rules on exporting cyber weapons, such as Pegasus, should be tightened.
French Open Probe
In addition to Macron’s appeal to the Israeli prime minister, French government prosecutors in Paris have also accused Moroccan intelligence services of using Israeli malware Pegasus to spy on several French journalists.
The investigation will look into 10 different charges, including breach of personal privacy, fraudulent access to personal electronic devices and criminal associations.
On Monday, the investigation website Mediapart filed a lawsuit and is being pursued in the newspaper Le Canard Enchain over Her Caledding’s claims.
“Countries must comply with terms of use”: Israeli Defense Minister
Israel, the home of the Pegasus owner NSO, has been supporting the allegations, despite the growing turmoil since last week.
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz was forced by the NSO group to issue export licenses for software sold to foreign governments, claiming that “countries purchasing these systems must comply with the terms of use”, which are only for the investigation of crime and terrorism. .
The Israeli government is reportedly setting up a multi-agency task force to deal with the outcome and to investigate whether “policy changes” are needed on sensitive cyber exports.
The Mexican First Lady demanded action
Beatrice Gutierrez Mलरller, the first lady in Mexico, visited the attorney general’s office to investigate the Pegasus project revelations and sever ties with her new husband, saying she would not file a criminal complaint against anyone who has a number of politicians and innocent citizens. The mobile number appeared in the leaked list.
At least 50 of the presidents, including Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador – known as Amlo – including Gutierrez Mलरller, three sons, three brothers, AIDS, counselors and their cardiologists. Pegasus Project Inspection.
Mexico was NSO’s first customer, and three decades of agencies have run Pegasus over the past decade.
Amlo said the federal government no longer spies on political opponents, journalists or activists, and any existing Pegasus agreements will be rescinded.
In a statement, the Terni General’s Office said that the Enrique Pena is subject to ongoing criminal investigations into the NSO agreement signed by Tomas Zeren, the fugitive who is the director of the Criminal Investigation Agency (AIC) under Nieto. Zeron fled to Israel last year.
British embarrassment
The leaked list revealed more than UK00 UK phone numbers in the British Parliament, according to an inquiry into the British Parliament, led by independent Lady Uddin.
According to the Guardian, the main government responsible for choosing the UK number between 201 and 201 appears to be the United Arab Emirates, traditionally a British ally.
A day earlier, the UK Government Minister, Lord True, had told the Lords that “we have repeatedly expressed our concern with the Israeli government over the conduct of the NSO.”
Human rights advocates said they are carefully investigating the report and preparing civil action to force further revelations from the NSO group.
“Related,” the US says
The United States has said it opposes using “spying” technology on civil society, politicians, critics and journalists.
Dean Thompson, acting assistant secretary for South and Central Asian affairs, told reporters at a news conference: ”
Moreover, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said he would raise issues related to human rights and civil liberties with his Indian counterpart next week, including India’s alleged use of spyware.
In particular, regarding New Delhi’s alleged use of Pegasus spyware, Thomson said the United States is concerned about the use of this type of technology against civil society, or political critics, or journalists, or any such outside media.
“We do not have much insight into India. I know this is a pervasive issue, but I would say that we’ve talked a lot about how companies try to find ways to make sure their technology isn’t used in this way. And we will definitely keep up the pressure on these issues, ”he added.
The NSO and the accused denied the claims
Along with the NSO group, governments that accuse themselves or foreign nationals of snooping have maintained a similar line to some extent.
While India has said it is an attempt to discredit Indian democracy, Morocco, which has accused French citizens and its own king of snooping, has said it “explicitly denies” claims that its intelligence services used Israeli spyware Pegasus.
Hungary made a similar statement. “The government has no knowledge of this type of data collection,” Foreign Minister Peter Sajjajarto told a news conference. The Hungarian civil intelligence service did not use the Pegasus software “in any way.”
Responding to the stories of the Pegasus project, the NSO said in its latest statement that “in light of the recent planned and planned and front-run media campaign, Forbidden Stories and special interest groups have pushed and ignored the facts. Announcing that it will no longer respond to media inquiries in this case and will not play with this reprehensible and reprehensible campaign.
“Let me repeat: the list is not a list of Pegasus goals or potential targets. The numbers in the list do not belong to the NSO group. Any claim that the name on this list is related to a Pegasus target or a Pegasus potential target is false and misleading. ”
Status and rules of India
Although several democracies have ordered an inquiry into the allegations of snooping or called on Israel to pay attention to the allegations, the Indian government has not yet done so.
However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The report states that the spyware was purchased by an Indian client of NSO after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel in 2017. Modi and Netanyahu said they had a very cordial relationship.
Because the NSO only supplied spyware to “investigated governments” and would not have happened without the permission of the Israeli government led by Netanyahu, the Indian government is stuck in a 22-catch situation. Examining the version offered by the NSO group, the theory of alleged numbers in the name of surveillance has been rejected. However, the Indian government has not clarified its role in whether it has purchased Pegasus spyware through intelligence agencies to monitor those involved in terrorist activities or other criminal cases.
Also, if spyware is not purchased, such spying on prominent Indian nationals is a known threat to national security and needs to be highlighted.
The report also found that NSO’s Indian customers had a number of people on Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s list of potential targets, making it more difficult for the Indian government to explain to other democracies.
