Home News Politics Pegasus Attack: Full List of People Targeted By WhatsApp Spyware
Pegasus Attack: Full List of People Targeted By WhatsApp Spyware
Several activists and journalists came forward to confirm that they were informed of the attack by WhatsApp.
The Quint
Politics
Updated:
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Full List of People Targetted in Whatsapp Breach: Several activists and journalists came forward to confirm that they were informed of the attack by WhatsApp.
(Photo: The Quint)
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WhatsApp on Thursday, 31 October, said Indian journalists, lawyers, human rights activists and politicians were among those who were globally spied upon by unnamed entities using an Israeli spyware name Pegasus, developed firm NSO Group.
Following the Facebook-owned platform's disclosure, there has been a trade-off between the Indian government and the messaging platform, with the government alleging that WhatsApp didn't inform, while WhatsApp has said that it had informed the government on two different occasions. It said that the Indian authorities were informed once in May, and then again in September.
WhatsApp, which believes that about 1,400 people were affected globally, said 121 Indians are among the one’s targeted.
Several activists, lawyers and journalists have came forward to confirm that they were informed of the attack by WhatsApp. Here's a full list of who all were affected:
Praful Patel, Former Union Minister and NCP Leader
Priyanka Gandhi, Congress General Secretary
Activists and Academics
Vira Sathidar, Activist-Actor
Bela Bhatia, Chhattisgarh-Based Dalit Rights Activist
Degree Prasad Chauhan, Activist
Anand Teltumbde, Academic
Ashish Gupta, Delhi-Based PUCL Activist
Vivek Sundara, Activist
Ajmal Khan, Activist
Saroj Giri, DU Professor
Seema Azad, Activist
Rupali Jadhav, Human Rights Activist
Alok Shukla, Activist
P Pavana, daughter of Bhima Koregaon accused Varavara Rao
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Lawyers
Nihal Singh Rathod, Bhima-Koregaon Lawyer
Jagdish Meshram, Gadchiroli-based lawyer
Shalini Gera, Chhattisgarh-Based Lawyer
Ankit Grewal, Bhima Koregaon Lawyer
Arunank, law graduate
Ravindranath Bhalla, Advocate
Balla Ravindranath, Hyderabad-based advocate
Mandeep Singh, Lawyer based in Chandigarh
Journalists
Shubhranshu Choudhary, Former BBC Journalist
Sidhant Sibal, Journalist with WION
Santosh Bhartiya, Former MP and Journalist
Rajeev Sharma, Independent Journalist
WhatsApp has said that it was suing NSO Group. After the Indian government sought an explanation on Friday, 1 November, the company responded to the government again and explained its lawsuit in a California court.
However, it did not say at whose behest the phones of journalists and activists across the world were targeted.
The mobile messaging giant said it had sent a special WhatsApp message to approximately 1,400 users that it has “reason to believe were impacted by this attack to directly inform them about what happened”.
While the messaging giant did not disclose the details or the number of people affected in India, a WhatsApp spokesperson said: “Indian users were among those contacted by us this week.”