WhatsApp says it alerted Indian govt of spyware attack in September

According to sources at WhatsApp, the messaging app had already informed the Indian government in September that 121 Indian users were targeted by the Israeli spyware Pegasus. But the IT Ministry maintained that the information received was inadequate, incomplete and full of jargons.

This happened to be its second alert on the issue after its first communication in May, in which it has highlighted that 121 users in India had been impacted by the spyware.

The messaging platform has responded to the government's query last week that sought an explanation to the Pegasus spyware that helped unnamed entities' hack into the phones of journalists and human rights activists across the world, including India.

IT Ministry has confirmed that they have received a reply from WhatsApp and are studying it, and that a view on it will be taken soon.

WhatsApp had on Thursday said that Indian journalists and human rights activists were among those globally spied upon by unnamed entities using an Israeli spyware Pegasus. It further said that it is suing NSO Group, an Israeli surveillance firm that is reportedly behind the technology that helped unnamed entities' hack into the phones of roughly 1,400 users, spanning four continents that included diplomats, political dissidents, journalists and senior government officials.

However, WhatsApp did not say on whose behest the phones of journalists and activists across the world were targeted. Refusing to divulge the identities of those targeted in India, WhatsApp had said it had, in May, stopped a highly sophisticated cyber-attack that exploited its video calling system to send malware to its users.

On Thursday, after WhatsApp's disclosure that the spyware had targeted Indian users as well, the Indian government had asked WhatsApp to explain the matter and list out measures that were taken by the app to protect the privacy of its users.

Government officials had also questioned the "suspicious" timing of the disclosure of the hacking incident, particularly against the backdrop of Supreme Court allowing the Centre three months to come up with rules to curb misuse of social media in the country, and the continued demand for bringing in traceability of originators of malicious content.