The Supreme Court appointed a committee of experts on Wednesday to investigate the alleged use of Israeli spyware Pegasus to monitor Indian citizens. The bench composed of Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli stated that the three-person committee will be led by former Supreme Court Justice RV Raveendran.

The center refused to submit a detailed affidavit on the matter on the grounds of national security. These requests are related to reports of government agencies suspected of using the spyware Pegasus of the Israeli company NSO to spy on well-known citizens, politicians, and scribes. In July, an investigation conducted by a global media consortium based on leaked target data further proved that military-grade malware is being used to monitor journalists, human rights activists, and dissidents.

From a list of more than 50,000 mobile phone numbers obtained by the Paris-based news non-profit organization Forbidden Stories and human rights organization Amnesty International and shared with 16 news organizations, journalists were able to determine that more than 1,000 people from 50 countries were allegedly NSO customers for potential monitoring.

According to the Washington Post, a member of the consortium, they include 189 journalists, more than 600 politicians and government officials, at least 65 business executives, 85 human rights activists, and several heads of state. These reporters work for organizations such as the Associated Press, Reuters, CNN, Wall Street Journal, Le Monde, and Financial Times.

News Source : Gadgets 360