July 25, 2021: Pakistan said on Saturday it would investigate the use of Pegasus malware against Prime Minister Imran Khan and senior military and government officials in the country for switching phone cameras or microphones and collecting and harvesting its data.

International forums also pledged to raise “deep concerns” over the issue of the Pegasus malware.

Addressing a news conference in Islamabad, Barrister Shehzad Akbar, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Accountability, set up by Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry, said the scandal was bigger than the Panama Papers leaks. “We see it as an attack on Pakistan’s sovereignty over [cyber attack] and the country will protect itself at all costs,” Akbar added.

He said the government was developing a legal strategy against India and the issue of Pegasus would be raised in international forums, including the United Nations and the European Union.

Akbar said that after this scandal, India’s nefarious plans against Pakistanis have been exposed. “India wants to destabilize Pakistan. Earlier, we also saw the report of Disinfo Lab, which described how India used fake media houses and NGOs to lobby against Pakistan.

The adviser said that the Israeli firm NSO has been selling the Pegasus malware software to various countries for many years. However, this requires approval from the Israeli government.

“Spyware was provided to ten countries, including India. It was used against [Narendra] Modi’s political opponents, including journalists, politicians and judges,” he added.

Describing the Pegasus malware’s work, he said he called the victim and when he received it, he froze the phone and extracted the data. “It also has the ability to use the phone’s camera and microphone.”

A report in The Washington Post stated that India was one of the 10 countries, which have been listed as clients of Israel’s NSO Group Pegasus malware.

At least one number once used by PM Imran was among the tens of thousands of smartphone numbers targeted by Pegasus, including those of activists, journalists, business executives and politicians from around the world that were revealed to have been targeted by the Israeli spyware.

The American publication stated that hundreds of numbers from Pakistan appeared on the Indian surveillance list, including one which was once used by the premier. More than 1,000 Indian numbers were also on the list. The report did not confirm if the attempt on the premier’s number was successful or not.

Israel’s Haaretz reported that several Pakistani officials, Kashmiri freedom fighters, Indian Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, and an Indian Supreme Court judge were targeted through Pegasus.

According to a local private TV channel, India even tried to tap the federal cabinet members’ calls and messages through the Pegasus spyware, prompting the Pakistani government to develop new software for federal ministers.

LIVE #APPNews Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ch Fawad Hussain along with Adviser to PM on Interior and Accountability Mirza Shahzad Akbar addressing press conference #Islamabad @ShazadAkbar @fawadchaudhry https://t.co/og1bOh56Bc

— APP 🇵🇰 (@appcsocialmedia) July 24, 2021