Today: 22 June 2025
3 February 2022
1 min read

FBI ‘tested’ Pegasus spyware’s capabilities

Pegasus is capable of silently infecting phones and accessing camera and microphone feeds, contacts, texts, and more….reports Asian Lite News

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has reportedly confirmed that it had a license to use Israeli company NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware and it tested out the software’s capabilities.

According to The Washington Post, the FBI insisted that the software was never used “in support of any investigation”.

The report, however, said that there were at least discussions within the Bureau and Department of Justice about how the FBI might go about deploying the spyware.

Pegasus is capable of silently infecting phones and accessing camera and microphone feeds, contacts, texts, and more.

“It’s a worrying detail — NSO has repeatedly claimed that Pegasus cannot be used on phone numbers with a +1 country code and is only allowed to be used in countries outside the US,” The Verge said late on Wednesday.

The FBI didn’t confirm other details, such as the allegation that it had racked up a $5 million bill with NSO and that it renewed a contract for Pegasus at one point.

The FBI reiterated a statement that it will “routinely identify, evaluate, and test technical solutions and problems for a variety of reasons, including possible operational and security concerns they might pose in the wrong hands”.

The NSO Group has been blacklisted by the US government on doing business with tech companies based in the country.

Tech giant Apple in November 2021 filed a lawsuit against the NSO Group, seeking a permanent injunction to ban the Israeli company from using any Apple software, services or devices.

Apple admitted that a small number of its users may have been targeted by a NSO Group’s exploit to install Pegasus on Apple devices.

Apple also sent threat notification alerts to victims of state-sponsored hackers, beginning with Thailand, El Salvador and Uganda.

ALSO READ: MEDIA SCAN: Pegasus report row explodes at Budget session and Pakistan readies to borrow billions from China

Previous Story

CNN chief Jeff Zucker quits

Next Story

Biden relaunches cancer ‘moonshot’ initiative

Latest from -Top News

US committed great crime: Iran

Iran has now called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council and demanded the IAEA Board of Governors address the situation….reports Asian Lite News Iran has strongly condemned the United

Strike Iran, Face Us, Houthis warn US

The Yemen-based Houthi group, which controls much of northern Yemen, has been targeting Israel since November 2023…reports Asian Lite News Yemen’s Houthi group issued a stark warning on Sunday, declaring they would

Tehran Hits Back After US Strikes

The missiles struck several locations across central Israel. Notably, one hit Haifa without any prior warning sirens, raising alarm over possible gaps in the missile alert system….reports Asian Lite News Iran fired

Trump Dares Iran Again

This comes as Trump announced that America had bombed three nuclear sites in Iran and warned Tehran of further precision strikes…reports Asian Lite News US President Donald Trump declared that no other
Go toTop

Don't Miss

West Asia enters a de-Americanised era

The focus on diplomacy in place of military force has

‘Dignified’ continuation of nuclear talks: Iran

Negotiations to revive the JCPOA commenced in April 2021 in