Israeli spyware Pegasus reportedly used to snoop on Indian journalists, govt rubbishes report

A report published by online news portal The Wire based on a leaked list revealed that Israel-made spyware Pegasus is believed to have targeted at least 40 Indian journalists.

The report said that the 'leaked data includes the numbers of top journalists at big media houses like the Hindustan Times, India Today, Network18, The Hindu and The Indian Express'.

The leaked list of names was provided to The Wire and 15 other international news organisations by France-based media non-profit, Forbidden Stories, and Amnesty International, as part of a collaborative investigation called the Pegasus Project.

The government, however in a statement, said that the report was not properly researched and was factually incorrect. 

The government said that India was a robust democracy and the right to privacy is a fundamental right.

Pegasus, a product of Israeli cyberweapons company NSO Group, was earlier in the news in late 2019 when it was found that spies used the spyware to hack into phones of roughly 1,400 users around the world, including 121 Indians.