KAMPALA- A chilling effect has engulfed journalists in Kampala, the region and the globe following a discovery that various regimes have been spying on them through technical infiltration.
This week,Local and international media have reported about an Israeli -made spyware called PEGASUS that client state actors acquired and have deployed on investigative journalists are suspected to be intrusive and inquisitive into their activities. Over 180 of them.
The spyware has not only targeted journalists but senior military and government officials have been reportedly looped.
In Uganda, a regional government is indicated to have targeted the former Prime Minister Dr Ruhaama Rugunda, former Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kuteesa and former Chief of Defence Forces General David Muhoozi.
Although the Israeli company behind the technology, NSO Group, denies any wrong doing, the extent of the damage is unbearable. One Mexican journalist was murdered last year after his phone believed to have been under attack was stolen.
But how does it attack your phone?
According to a graphic done by The Guardian newspaper,
Pegasus can be installed on a phone through vulnerabilities in common apps, or by tricking a target into clicking a malicious link.
These vulnerabilities include; SMS, WhatsApp, iMessage.
Once installed, Pegasus can theoretically harvest any data from the device and transmit it back to the attacker
The data mined can be beamed off SMS, Emails, WhatsApp chats, Photos and videos.
It can Activate microphone, Activate camera, Record calls, GPS data, Calendar data and harvest your Contacts book.
IT experts this wesbite spoke to advise one to avoid suspicious spam links and deactivation of apps like iMessage, WhatsApp and SMS platforms.
For more details on this story, click this link- https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/18/ft-editor-roula-khalaf-among-180-journalists-targeted-nso-spyware?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other&__twitter_impression=true
