Govt sources said WhatsApp withheld information from the govt after the May revelations of a spyware targeting Indian users.
The
government is exploring options to assess the extent of the impact
caused by NSO
Group’s spyware on Indian individuals even as home ministry
sources said there are fears that international lobbies might have
been involved in spying.
These
lobbies, the ministry says, are trying to create a narrative around
Indian governance as well as the economy.
“We
have been investigating the spying allegations for some time and are
trying to understand the extent of the damage done. We are also
looking at lobby groups active in India to figure out if they were
involved in this and why, and come out with a report soon on this
issue,” said a senior official looking into the investigation.
WhatsApp
said on October 29 it was filing a federal complaint in the US
against Israeli technology firm NSO Group for a cyberattack that
exploited a vulnerability in the chat app’s video-calling feature,
which could compromise the target person’s device. According to
reports, 121 Indians were also affected in the breach.
The
breach was first reported in May this year but gathered steam in
India after WhatsApp’s complaint and activists and journalists
saying they received communication from Toronto-based Citizen Lab,
which helped WhatsApp’s investigation of the breach.
Sources
said some other investigative agencies including the National
Investigation Agency (NIA) might be involved at a later stage.
However, no such decision has been taken yet in this regard.
While
NSO has maintained it sells only to governments, the India has so far
not categorically accepted or denied buying NSO software by either
the Centre, states, or government agencies. WhatsApp has said it will
cooperate with the government to “do all we can to protect users
from hackers attempting to weaken security”.
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