Pegasus case: SC extends time for probe panel to submit its report on use of Israeli spyware

The SC bench headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana said the technical committee has been examining mobiles for the spyware and has also recorded statements of persons including some journalists, said a PTI report.

Zee News file pic

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday (May 20) extended the time for submitting the report by the top court-appointed technical and supervisory committees to look into the Pegasus row. The apex court further said that 29 'infected' mobile phones are being examined for the spyware and the process should be over in four weeks. The top court bench headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana said the technical committee has been examining mobiles for the spyware and has also recorded statements of persons including some journalists, according to a PTI report. 

The apex court reportedly said that the standard operating procedure for testing the 'infected devices' will be finalised too, and directed that the technical committee probe may be over by the May end and then the supervisory judge would be making a report for the perusal of the bench.

"Preferably, the process by the technical committee should be over in four weeks and the supervisory judge should be informed. The supervisory judge shall submit his report thereafter. List sometime in July," the PTI report quoted the CJI as saying.

In October last year, the Supreme Court had ordered a probe into the alleged use of the spyware.

What is Pegasus spyware?

An international media consortium had reported that over 300 verified Indian mobile phone numbers were on the list of potential targets for surveillance using the Pegasus spyware. 

According to a Guardian report, Pegasus is a hacking software – or spyware – that is developed, marketed and licensed to governments across the world by the Israeli company NSO Group. The software has the "capability to infect billions of phones running either iOS or Android operating systems".

The earliest version of Pegasus was reportedly captured by researchers in 2016. It infected phones through what is called spear-phishing – text messages or emails that trick a target into clicking on a malicious link.

The report said that this spyware is the name for perhaps the most powerful piece of spyware ever developed – certainly by a private company. "Once it has wormed its way on to your phone, without you noticing, it can turn it into a 24-hour surveillance device," said the report, adding that the spyware can copy messages you send or receive, harvest your photos and record your calls. 

The spyware is also capable of secretly "filming you through your phone’s camera, or activate the microphone to record your conversations". Thus, it can pinpoint "where you are, where you’ve been, and who you’ve met," the report added.