spyware – Page 3 – free them all

Report Release: In the Name of Development / Snooping on Civil Society

29/10/2022 Asha

India Trains Its Sights on Dissent in Chhattisgarh – Snooping on Civil Society

28/10/2022

Voelkerrechtsblog / by Allison West

Development in the form of profit-driven resource exploitation ventures in India’s central state of Chhattisgarh, led by corporations and facilitated by the state, have wreaked havoc on the lives and livelihoods of the region’s indigenous Adivasi peoples. In the face of widespread dispossession, corporate land grabs, environmental degradation and militarized policing in Chhattisgarh, Adivasi activists and organized civil society play a vital role in monitoring, documenting and challenging ongoing human rights violations on the ground…
In 2020, Amnesty International and Citizen Lab uncovered a coordinated spyware campaign targeting nine human rights defenders in India, including several active in Chhattisgarh. Between January and October 2019, the targets received spearphishing emails with malicious links that, if opened, would have installed NetWire, a commercially manufactured Windows spyware that monitors a user’s actions and communications..
The common link between the human rights defenders targeted in the NetWire attack seemed to be a record of speaking out on behalf of those imprisoned in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon Case.
Read more

Report Release: In the Name of Development – Indigenous Rights Violations and Shrinking Space in Chhattisgarh

03/11/2022

By India Justice Project & ECCHR

The report presents insights into the ongoing assault by the Indian state and powerful corporations on the indigenous peoples of the country through a case study of Chhattisgarh. In particular, the report highlights the legal and institutional means through which powerful state, military and corporate actors appropriate land and shrink space for Adivasi rights and resistance in Chhattisgarh.
Read full report (PDF, 72 pages)

Also read:
● DISINHERITING ADIVASIS – THE GADCHIROLI GAME PLAN (KAFILA / June 2018)
● Mining In Gadchiroli – Building A Castle Of Injustices (Countercurrents / June 2017)

Supreme Court ticks off govt on seizure of personal devices

06/08/2022 Asha

The Telegraph / by R. Balaji

SC frowns on government’s cavalier dismissal of a PIL’s demand for guidelines on ‘seizure, examination and preservation’ of such gadgets
The Supreme Court on Friday said electronic devices seized by investigating agencies “have personal contents and we have to protect this”, frowning on the Centre’s cavalier dismissal of a PIL’s demand for guidelines on the “seizure, examination and preservation” of such devices.
… several accused in the Elgaar Parishad-Maoist links case have said — with support from forensic analysts — that false “evidence” was planted on their devices after their seizure by investigators.
Read more

Also read:
● Despite the Evidence, Courts Yet to Take Note of Spyware Used Against Elgar Parishad Accused (The Wire / July 2022)
● Police Linked to Hacking Campaign to Frame Indian Activists (Wired.com / June 2022)

Despite the Evidence, Courts Yet to Take Note of Spyware Used Against Elgar Parishad Accused

18/07/2022 Asha

The Wire / by Sukanya Shantha

The evidence of malware use has now come in from multiple studies, but the accused remain in jail and the trial is yet to begin.
It has been a year since The Wire, along with 16 other international media organisations – all part of the Pegasus Project – reported how at least eight activists, lawyers and academics arrested for their supposed role in the Elgar Parishad case were on the leaked database as probable Pegasus targets. Besides the accused persons, their family members, lawyers, associated activists and, in some cases, minor children too appeared on the list.
Read more

Also read:
● Police Linked to Hacking Campaign to Frame Indian Activists (Wired.com / June 2022)
● Leaked Data Shows Surveillance Net in Elgar Parishad Case May Have Crossed a Line (The Wire / July 2021)

As Bhima Koregaon case completes its fourth anniversary, State reprisal is writ large in its twists and turns

08/06/2022 Asha

The Leaflet / by Nihalsing Rathod

As we have completed four years since the first arrest in the Elgar Parishad case, a quick recap of how 16 renowned human rights activists were jailed may be useful.
There is much more than meets the eye. Maybe we will have a few answers after the trial ends, but not all. It would be difficult to say what exactly caused the arrest of these 16 eminent persons, but we can definitely relook at the turn of events and try to understand what really happened.
Read more

Also read:
● ‘We are all prisoners of conscience’, say those facing trial in Bhima Koregaon case on the occasion of fourth anniversary of their arrests [read letter] (The Leaflet / June 2022)
● 3 years after Bhima Koregaon: How criminal law was violated (The Leaflet / June 2021)

Pune Police Evade The Law By Dodging Questions On Use Of Pegasus Spyware On Indian Citizens

03/05/2022 Asha

Pune Police Evade The Law By Dodging Questions On Use Of Israeli Spyware On Indian Citizens

03/04/2022

Artice 14 / by Saurav Das

Despite multiple right-to-information applications asking whether the Pune police purchased or used military-grade Pegasus spyware in the Bhima-Koregaon case, its information officer evaded an answer, refusing to admit the questions on technical grounds. Experts said the police replies were legally untenable and dismissive of a growing demand for greater transparency and accountability in India’s surveillance framework.
A Pune police refusal to reply to right-to-information (RTI) queries about the use of Israeli spyware Pegasus raise several questions about whether the military-grade hacking weapon was deployed in implicating lawyers, activists, and academics in the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad (BK-EP) case, which invokes India’s draconian counter-terrorism law, the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967.
Read more

Media in India: Shackled and spied on

03/05/2022

The Leaflet / by Sukumar Muralidharan

Early in April, the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting [MIB] ordered 22 YouTube channels blocked, 18 based in India and four in Pakistan. Also blocked were four social media accounts and one news website. Later in the month, another 16 YouTube channels were blocked, ten in India and all others in the neighbouring State, alongside one Facebook account.
Read more

Also read:
● Leaked Data Shows Surveillance Net in Elgar Parishad Case May Have Crossed a Line (The Wire / July 2021)

Activist Rona Wilson was targeted by two separate hacker groups, says report

10/02/2022 Asha

Rona Wilson Targeted in 10-Year Cyber Espionage Effort by Two Groups: Report

11/02/2022

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

Findings by US experts under the cybersecurity firm SentinelOne reveal that Wilson was targeted in a nearly decade-long effort – a time frame significantly longer than earlier realised.
A new report has found that activist Rona Wilson – incarcerated over what the Pune Police and NIA believe are his connections to the Elgar Parishad case – was targeted by two groups who took up cyber crime campaigns against him.
Read more

Indian activist charged with terrorism was targeted by hackers linked to prominent cyber espionage attacks, new report finds

10/02/2022

The Washington Post / by Niha Masih and Gerry Shih

In early 2021, India was jolted by revelations that a jailed human rights activist and vocal government critic was targeted by hackers who planted incriminating evidence on his laptop before he was arrested on terrorism charges.
Now, a year later, a report by U.S. experts says the activist, Rona Wilson, was targeted by two separate groups, including one group that has been linked to widely documented cyberespionage campaigns against military targets in China and Pakistan, India’s top foreign adversaries.
Read more

Activist Rona Wilson was targeted by two separate hacker groups, says report

10/02/2022

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

One of the groups has reportedly been linked to cyberespionage efforts against military targets in China and Pakistan.
Activist Rona Wilson, who has been named as an accused person in the Bhima Koregaon case, was targeted by two separate groups of hackers before he was arrested, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.
Read more

Seized Devices Of Seven Accused To Be Submitted To Pegasus Committee

08/02/2022 Asha

Court permits NIA to submit seized mobile phones to the SC-appointed Committee probing Pegasus allegations

08/02/2022

The Leaflet / by The Leaflet

A special National Investigation Agency [NIA] Court in Mumbai, on Tuesday, allowed the application filed by the anti-terror agency to submit the seized mobile phones of the seven accused in the Bhima Koregaon case to the Supreme Court-appointed Techincal Committee which is probing the Pegasus spyware scandal.
Read more

Seized Mobile Devices Of Seven Accused To Be Submitted To Pegasus Committee To Check For Possible Snooping

08/02/2022

Live Law / by Sharmee Hakim

Mobile devices of the seven accused in the Bhima Koregaon – Elgar Parishad Case will be submitted to the Supreme Court-appointed Technical Committee (TC) probing allegations of snooping using Pegasus spyware, after the Special Court allowed the National Investigation Agency’s plea.
Read more

Also read:
● Elgar Parishad Accused, Their Lawyers Write to SC’s Committee on Pegasus Spyware Targeting (The Wire / Jan 2022)
● Leaked Data Shows Surveillance Net in Elgar Parishad Case May Have Crossed a Line (The Wire / July 2021)

Pegasus scandal shows how lawless India’s ‘lawful interception’ has become / India’s 2017 Pegasus Deal

02/02/2022 Asha

Pegasus scandal shows how lawless India’s ‘lawful interception’ has become

02/02/2022

The Print / by Praveen Swami

Many democracies understand the need for lawful surveillance against serious crimes. Few provide the executive such sweeping powers like India does.
At once unconstitutional, ungenerous and un-English,” raged the London Times in summer of 1844, as the world’s first great surveillance scandal exploded inside the halls of parliament…
Technical evidence suggesting at least some of the Bhima Koregaon case was planted on suspects—using a relatively crude and unsophisticated malware called Netwire—shows what happens when intelligence services operate unregulated and without accountability.
Read more

Transcript: India’s 2017 Pegasus Deal With Israel Involved Top Intel Leaders

02/02/2022

The Wire / by Siddharth Varadarajan

Israeli investigative reporter Ronen Bergman speaks at length about the explosive story he co-authored in the New York Times on the sale of Pegasus spyware around the world, including to India.
Read more

Also read:
● Bhima Koregaon accused and their counsel write to SC’s Pegasus technical committee alleging snooping (The Leaflet/ Jan 2022)
● Leaked Data Shows Surveillance Net in Elgar Parishad Case May Have Crossed a Line (The Wire / July 2021)

Pegasus Spyware: Fresh plea in Supreme Court seeks probe into 2017 India-Israel defence deal

29/01/2022 Asha

Pegasus case: Fresh plea in Supreme Court seeks probe into 2017 India-Israel defence deal

20/01/2022

Scroll.in / by Scroll Staff

The applicant has said the reported agreement with Israel was not approved by Parliament.
Advocate ML Sharma has filed an application in the Supreme Court seeking an investigation after The New York Times on January 28 said that the Narendra Modi-led government had purchased the Pegasus spyware from Israel in 2017, Live Law reported on Sunday.
Read more

Pegasus Spyware: Supreme Court Urged To Take Cognisance Of New York Times Report Alleging Pegasus Purchase By Indian Government

30/01/2022

Live Law / by Srishti Ojha

While referring to the recent New York Times report that in July 2017 Modi government purchased Pegasus from an Israeli firm, Advocate ML Sharma has moved the Supreme Court of India seeking probe into the alleged Pegasus purchase.
Sharma, who is also one of the petitioners in the Pegasus case before the Supreme Court, has filed an application seeking directions to register F.I.R for investigation to recover public money paid for the impugned deal.
Read more

India Bought Pegasus as Part of Larger $2 Billion Deal with Israel in 2017, Claims ‘NYT’ Report

28/01/2022

The Wire / by The Wire Staff

The media report notes that Pegasus was the ‘centrepiece’ of a 2017 deal between India and Israel.
India bought controversial spyware tool Pegasus in 2017 as part of a larger arms deal with Israel, according to a new report published by The New York Times.
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PEGASUS SNOOPING: Bhima Koregaon’s Accused Write To SC’s Technical Committee

19/01/2022 Asha

PEGASUS SNOOPING: Bhima Koregaon’s Accused Write To SC’s Technical Committee

19/01/2022

Law Street Journal / by Komal Kinger

Pegasus is a type of spyware created by the Israeli cyberarms firm NSO Group that can be installed secretly on mobile phones (and other divices) running most versions of iOS and Android.
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Elgar Parishad Accused, Their Lawyers Write to SC’s Committee on Pegasus Spyware Targeting

10/01/2022

The Wire / Sukanya Shantha

On January 3, the committee issued a public notice urging people to contact them in case they have reasons to believe that their phones were compromised using the malware.
Several human rights defenders and academics implicated in the Elgar Parishad case and their lawyers have sent their representation to the Supreme Court-appointed Technical Committee alleging that their phones were infected by the vicious Pegasus malware.
Read more

Bhima Koregaon accused and their counsel write to SC’s Pegasus technical committee alleging snooping

08/01/2022

The Leaflet / by The Leaflet

On January 3, the Supreme Court-appointed Technical Committee (TC) to investigate the snooping allegations using Pegasus spyware had issued a public notice urging citizens to contact it if they felt that their mobile device had been infected…
The Leaflet learns that at least four accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, and their counsel, Nihalsing B. Rathod, have written to the committee separately alleging that their mobile devices had been infected with the Pegasus malware.
Read more

Also read:
● Leaked Data Shows Surveillance Net in Elgar Parishad Case May Have Crossed a Line (The Wire / July 2021)