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Peagsus Documentation

This document is a seminar report on the Pegasus spyware. It provides an introduction to spyware in general and then focuses on Pegasus specifically. Pegasus was developed by the Israeli company NSO Group and can be covertly installed on iOS and Android devices. It allows for monitoring text messages, calls, passwords, location tracking and accessing the microphone and camera. The report discusses how Pegasus was discovered exploiting vulnerabilities in iOS and how it is able to extract data from devices using zero-day exploits without any user interaction required.

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harshjeswani2209
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52 views11 pages

Peagsus Documentation

This document is a seminar report on the Pegasus spyware. It provides an introduction to spyware in general and then focuses on Pegasus specifically. Pegasus was developed by the Israeli company NSO Group and can be covertly installed on iOS and Android devices. It allows for monitoring text messages, calls, passwords, location tracking and accessing the microphone and camera. The report discusses how Pegasus was discovered exploiting vulnerabilities in iOS and how it is able to extract data from devices using zero-day exploits without any user interaction required.

Uploaded by

harshjeswani2209
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Pegasus Spyware

A
Seminar Report
On

Pegasus Spyware

SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF


THE REQUIREMENT FOR
DEGREE OF
BACHELOR OF COMPUTER APPLICATION
(BCA)

SUBMITTED TO:
S. S. AGRAWAL COLLEGE OF COMMERCE
& MANAGEMENT
NAVSARI – 396445

ACADEMIC YEAR – 2021-2022

GUIDANCE BY: SUBMITTED BY:


Mrs. ESHA PATEL ASHISH PATEL

Acknowledgement
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Pegasus Spyware
Before expressing a single word for the project, we take this
opportunity to thank all those who have helped us directly or
indirectly in making our project feasible and to turn it into a
successful piece of work.

Firstly, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to our


guide “Mrs. Esha Patel” for being a torchbearer to shed the light on
our path throughout the journey of this project. She has motivated us
for facing problems and gave technical guidance to the project.

We are very thankful to our most helpful and cooperative


professors of BCA, S.S Agrawal College of commerce and
Management.
This was the first professional step towards the high-profile
carrier in Information Technology. It was a brief experience of
exposing as well as learning lots of new things in Information
Technology as a while at this level.

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Pegasus Spyware
Table of content

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Pegasus Spyware
Introduction to Spyware
Spyware is a type of malicious software or malware that is
installed on a computing device without the end user's knowledge. It
invades the device, steals sensitive information and internet usage
data, and relays it to advertisers, data firms or external users.

Any software can be classified as spyware if it is downloaded


without the user's authorization. Spyware is controversial because,
even when it is installed for relatively innocuous reasons, it can
violate the end user's privacy and has the potential to be abused.

Spyware is one of the most common threats to internet users.


Once installed, it monitors internet activity, tracks login credentials
and spies on sensitive information. The primary goal of spyware is
usually to obtain credit card numbers, banking information and
passwords.

But spyware can also be used to track a person's location, as is


the case with stalkerware. Often installed secretly on mobile phones
by jealous spouses, ex-partners and even concerned parents, this type
of spyware can track the physical location of the victim, intercept
their emails and texts, eavesdrop on their phone calls and record
conversations, and access personal data, such as photos and videos.

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Pegasus Spyware
Spyware can be difficult to detect; often, the first indication a
user has that a computing device has been infected with spyware is a
noticeable reduction in processor or network connection speeds and --
in the case of mobile devices data usage and battery life. Antispyware
tools can be used to prevent or remove spyware. They can either
provide real-time protection by scanning network data and blocking
malicious data, or they can execute scans to detect and remove
spyware already on a system.

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Pegasus Spyware
Introduction to Pegasus
Pegasus is spyware developed by the Israeli cyber-arms
company NSO Group that can be covertly installed on mobile
phones running most versions of iOS and Android. Pegasus is able to
exploit iOS versions up to 14.6, through a zero-click exploit. As of
2022, Pegasus was capable of reading text messages, tracking
calls, collecting passwords, location tracking, accessing the target
device's microphone and camera, and harvesting information from
apps.

The spyware is named after Pegasus, the winged horse of Greek


mythology. It is a Trojan horse computer virus that can be sent "flying

through the air" to infect cell phones.

NSO Group developed its first iteration of Pegasus spyware in


2011. The company states that it provides "authorized governments
with technology that helps them combat terror and crime." NSO
Group has published sections of contracts which require customers to
use its products only for criminal and national security investigations
and has stated that it has an industry-leading approach to human
rights.

Need For Development


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Pegasus Spyware
The spyware has been used for surveillance of anti-regime
activists, journalists, and political leaders from several nations around
the world. In July 2021, the investigation initiative Pegasus Project,
along with an in-depth analysis by human rights group Amnesty
International, reported that Pegasus was still being widely used
against high-profile targets like., journalist, political leaders by
several nations.

E.g. Two months after the murder and dismemberment of The


Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi human rights
activist, in the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, Saudi
dissident Omar Abdul-Aziz, a Canadian resident, filed suit in Israel
against NSO Group, accusing the firm of providing the Saudi
government with the surveillance software to spy on him and his
friends, including Khashoggi.

After these viral news and media coverage Pegasus developer


company NSO has published section of contracts which require
customer to use its product only for criminal and national security
investigation.

Discovery
Pegasus iOS exploitation was identified in August
2016. Arab human rights defender Ahmed Mansoor received a text
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Pegasus Spyware
message promising "secrets" about torture happening in prisons in the
United Arab Emirates by following a link. Mansoor sent the link
to Citizen Lab of the University of Toronto, which investigated, with
the collaboration of Lookout, finding that if Mansoor had followed
the link it would have jailbroken his phone and implanted the spyware
into it, in a form of social engineering.

Citizen Lab and Lookout discovered that the link downloaded


software to exploit three previously unknown and unpatched zero-day
vulnerabilities in iOS. According to their analysis, the software can
jailbreak an iPhone when a malicious URL is opened, a form of attack
known as spear phishing. The software installs itself and collects all
communications and locations of targeted iPhones. The software can
also collect Wi-Fi passwords. The researchers noticed that the
software's code referenced an NSO Group product called "Pegasus" in
leaked marketing materials. Pegasus had previously come to light in a
leak of records from Hacking Team, which indicated the software had
been supplied to the government of Panama in 2015. Citizen Lab and
Lookout notified Apple's security team, which patched the flaws
within ten days and released an update for iOS. A patch for macOS
was released six days later.

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Pegasus Spyware

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Pegasus Spyware
How it works?
The Pegasus spyware uses the advantages of zero-days exploits.

The spyware can be installed on certain versions of iPhone and


all versions of android.

It uses the vulnerabilities in the system to extract the data from


device.

Some Pegasus attacks are performed by zero-click exploits,


Means they can run on device without any interaction of victims.

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