Pegasus spyware may have accessed data of 20 WhatsApp users: Govt

The government on Wednesday said personal data of 20 WhatsApp users out of the 121 users targeted using Pegasus spyware may have been accessed by the attacker.

Facebook-owned Whatsapp had said that Indian journalists and human rights activists were among those globally spied upon by unnamed entities using Pegasus spyware.

“WhatsApp continues to review the available information. It also mentioned that WhatsApp believes it is likely that personal data within the WhatsApp app of approximately twenty users may have been accessed out of approximately one hundred and twenty one users in India whose devices the attacker attempted to reach,” Prasad said in Lok Sabha.

On May 20, WhatsApp reported an incident to country’s cyber security watchdog Cert-In, stating that it had identified and promptly fixed a vulnerability that could enable an attacker to insert and execute code on mobile devices.