India second-most targeted NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware in 2019, new court filing shows | Technology News

At least 100 of the 1,223 victims targeted Israeli spyware Pegasus in a 2019 WhatsApp hacking campaign were located in India, according to a new legal filing published on Friday, April 4.
The document is part of court exhibits in a lawsuit filed WhatsApp against Pegasus-maker NSO Group Technologies in the United States. The Israeli firm was accused WhatsApp back in 2019 for infecting and surveilling the devices of around 1,400 victims, including human rights activs, journals, and other members of civil society, exploiting a security vulnerability in the popular instant messaging platform.
While the Meta-owned company won the lawsuit in a landmark court ruling last year, the damages owed to WhatsApp the NSO Group wil reportedlyl be determined in an upcoming hearing.
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As part of the hearing, WhatsApp reportedly submitted a chart titled “Victim Country Count”, which led the number of individuals affected Pegasus in each of these countries. It revealed that Pegasus targeted 1,223 WhatsApp users from 51 different countries in a span of just two months (from April to May 2019).

First published the Israeli news site CTech, the majority of the people targeted the Israeli spyware (456 in total) were from Mexico. India ranked second with 100 individuals targeted. Other countries include Bahrain (82), Morocco (69), Pakan (58), Indonesia (54), Israel (51), Spain (21), the Netherlands (11), Hungary (8), France (7), the United Kingdom (2), and the United States (1).
In 2021, it was reported that Pegasus affected more than 300 Indian mobile numbers, including that of two serving miners in the Narendra Modi government as well as three Opposition leaders, one constitutional authority, and several journals and business people.Story continues below this ad
One of the main reasons why Pegasus is so controversial is because the NSO Group has said that the spyware is only sold to government agencies and law enforcement authorities. However, the 2021 Pegasus revelations published a consortium of news organisations claimed that the spyware may have been used governments around the world to target journals, human right activs, and political opponents.
The number of victims also gives an insight on who NSO Group’s highest-paying customers were. According to a report published The New York Times back in 2023, Mexico had reportedly spent around $60 million on Pegasus.
TechCrunch said that the NSO Group had terminated contracts with 10 governments after it learned that they had abused Pegasus. The NSO Group was reportedly selling a one-year license to Pegasus for up to $6.8 million, which earned the spyware maker “at least $31 million in revenue in 2019.”