NEW DELHI: A day after WhatsApp confirmed that it had shared information regarding a security breach with the Centre, the government on Saturday said that the information was full of ‘technical jargon’ and did not mention about Pegasus spyware.
According to sources in the government, WhatsApp had alerted Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), the country’s nodal agency to deal with cybersecurity threats, about the issue in May but did not mention anything about Pegasus or the extent of the breach.
“They also stated that the details shared with CERT-IN were only about a technical vulnerability and did not mention anything about snooping on Indian citizens or that their privacy has been compromised,” a source said.
On Friday, WhatsApp came out with a statement assuring its users of taking all safety steps. “Our highest priority is the privacy and security of WhatsApp users. In May, we quickly resolved a security issue and notified relevant Indian and international government authorities.”
The Facebook-owned company has accused Israel-based technology firm NSO Group of using Pegasus to snoop on academics, lawyers, journalists and human rights activists in various countries, including India. WhatsApp has alleged that NSO Group used Pegasus to target over 1,400 WhatsApp users, a few of them in India. On Friday, the Israeli minister for security had said that the Israeli government had no involvement in the sale of the spyware and NSO Group was a private entity.
Sonia’s swipe at Centre
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi attacked the Centre on WhatsApp snooping, saying these activities are not only unconstitutional but shameful as well.