How Pegasus Works and How to Tell if You’ve Been Infected

Pegasus is the buzzword. Hacking tool for access all data on any iPhone or Android smartphone making news in all media. How it works? How do I know if I am infected? We tell you everything below.

What is Pegasus?

Pegasus is a tool to spy on your smartphone. We could classify it as a “virus” so that we all understand each other, which does not damage your phone, cause anything to be removed or malfunction, but rather has access to all your data and sends it to whoever installed this virus on your phone. This tool was created by NSO Group, an Israeli company that sells this tool to spy on people. Yes, it’s as simple as that, it’s a well-known company, everyone knows what it does and it’s allowed despite all the fuss that has swirled around it since its existence was known. Apple has already filed a complaint against this company.

How do I install Pegasus on my phone?

People are always talking about iPhones infected with Pegasus, but the reality is that this tool works for iPhone and Android. The targets of this tool are usually high-ranking politicians, journalists, activists, dissidents… people “interested” in spying to control their movements and know everything they know, and these people, for security reasons usually use iPhones, more secure than Android, but as secure as it is, it is not invulnerable.

To get Pegasus installed on your iPhone, you don’t even have to do anything. The NSO company has designed a tool so advanced that it can enter your phone without you clicking links or downloading apps. A simple WhatsApp call or a message sent to your phone, without you opening it, can give access to this spyware. To do this, take advantage of so-called “zero day” vulnerabilities, security vulnerabilities that the phone manufacturer is unaware of and therefore cannot fix because they don’t even know they exist. Once installed, everything, I repeat, everything on your iPhone is in the hands of whoever uses this tool.

Apple already released an update months ago that fixed several of these security flaws, but Pegasus finds others and takes advantage of them. As of today we don’t know what bugs it uses, or what phones or OS versions are vulnerable to its spy tool. We know that Apple fixes them as soon as it discovers them, but we also know that there will always be bugs that will be found and exploited. It’s the eternal game of cat and mouse.

Who can use Pegasus?

The NSO Group claims its tool is only used by government agencies, as if that’s any consolation. But as Tim Cook said when he discussed forcing companies to create a “backdoor” that would provide access to phones when needed, “a backdoor for the good guys is also a backdoor for the bad guys. ” “. The only consolation we normal citizens have is that Pegasus is not accessible to anyone for purely economic reasons. The use of this tool for one person has a price of around 96,000 dollars

so I don’t think your colleague or brother-in-law is going to use it to spy on your phone.

But it is worrying for everyone to know that there is a tool that can spy on us 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year using our smartphone, aware of everything we do, see, read, listen to and write. Who can guarantee that Pegasus cannot fall into the hands of others who sell it for less? Or even make it available to everyone for free? And what I told you about at the beginning of the article, the most disturbing thing is knowing that the company that Pegasus has created can act with impunity with a tool that breaks all possible laws.

How do I know if I am infected?

If you want to know if someone installed Pegasus on your phone, there are tools to detect it and they are free. On the one hand we have the open source software developed by Amnesty International and which you can download from GitHub (link). However, it is not software that everyone can use due to its complexity, so there are other simpler and more accessible alternatives for those without advanced computer skills

. For example, the iMazing tool (link), which can be downloaded for free, also lets you know if you have been infected with Pegasus. It is compatible with Windows and macOS and although some of its features are paid, Pegasus detection is free.

How can I avoid being infected with Pegasus?

As it stands, if someone wants to install Pegasus on your phone, there’s no way to completely bypass it. But you can take precautions to reduce the risk to the minimum possible. We know there were bugs that allowed Pegasus to install without the user doing anything, but we also know that Apple continually releases patches to fix those bugs, so The best thing is that you always keep your iPhone updated with the latest version available. It is also important that you do not click on links whose origin you do not know, or open messages from unknown or suspicious senders.

Regarding the installation of applications, on iOS, you cannot install apps outside the App Store. This is something that is currently being discussed by many organizations such as the European Commission, but it is a security measure that protects us from outside attacks. If at any time Apple is forced to open its system and allow “sideloading” or installing apps from outside its store, the risks will increase exponentially.