Staff Reporter Islamabad
Pakistan on Saturday said that it would conduct an investigation over the use of Pegasus malware, which is capable of switching a phone’s camera or microphone on and harvesting its data, against Prime Minister Imran Khan and other senior officials of Pakistan’s military and government and would take legal action against India as well as raise “deep concern” at international fora.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Adviser to Prime Minister on Accountability Barrister Shahzad Akbar, who was flanked by Federal Information and Broadcasting Minister Fawad Chaudhry, said that the scandal was even bigger than the Panama Papers leaks.
“We consider it [the cyber-attack] an attack on Pakistan’s sovereignty and the country will safeguard it at all cost,” Akbar added.
He said that the government is devising a legal strategy against India and the issue will be raised on international fora such as United Nations and European Union.
The PM’s aide said that a team comprising officials from intelligence agencies, Federal Investigation Agency and senior officials of cabinet division would investigate the matter.
Akbar said India’s nefarious designs towards Pakistani have been exposed following the scandal.
“India wants to destabilise Pakistan. Earlier, we also saw the report of Disinfo Lab which stated how India used fake media houses and NGOs to lobby against Pakistan,” he added.
He said that the Israeli firm NSO has been selling software to different countries for many years. However, it requires approval from the Israeli government.
“Ten countries were given the spyware including India. It was used against political opponents of Modi including journalists, politicians and judges,” he added.
Describing how the malware works, he said that it calls the victim and when it is received, it freezes the phone and extracts the data, adding that it also has the capability to use a phone’s camera and microphone.
