Politicians, rights activists and journalists were among those targeted with phone spyware sold to various governments by the Israeli firm NSO Group Technologies, according to an international media consortium. The US has said it is against the use of spying technology on civil society, regime critics and journalists through “extrajudicial means”, even as it maintained that it has no particular insight into the Pegasus snooping case in India. Politicians, rights activists and journalists were among those targeted with phone spyware sold to various governments by the Israeli firm NSO Group Technologies, according to an international media consortium. India on Monday categorically rejected allegations linked to the Pegasus snooping row, saying attempts were being made to “malign” Indian democracy. Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw asserted that illegal surveillance was not possible with checks and balances in the country’s laws.

Source: Indian Express July 24, 2021 07:13 UTC