How To Check If Your Smartphone Is Infected With Pegasus Spyware

A few days ago, it became known that the malicious utility called Pegasus is widely used to spy on residents of different countries secretly including Pakistan. It is created by the Israeli company NSO Group for law enforcement agencies and intelligence services. The spyware is said to spy on some Pakistani big names including PM Imran Khan. Yes, it seems scary, but you can now check if your smartphone is infected with Pegasus spyware.

How To Check If Your Smartphone Is Infected With Pegasus Spyware

Now, the human rights organization Amnesty International has claimed that it has developed a utility that allows people to identify this malware. It is called MVT (Mobile Verification Toolkit), and its source code is available on GitHub.

The MVT utility is compatible with Android and iOS. But unfortunately, you can not directly install the application on your phone. Your phone needs to be compiled for a specific device, which can be done only on a computer with Linux or macOS.

Check also: Pakistan’s National Security At Stake By Pegasus Malware

The utility saves a backup copy of the data from the smartphone on the computer. It scans all data and checks if the device is infected with the Pegasus spyware. It also informs the user if information from the device could be compromised and transferred to third parties.

This utility, in particular, scans data transfer logs. On iOS, these logs are stored longer than on Android. We can say that it is much easier to detect the Pegasus spyware on the iPhone. Given the complexity of using the Mobile Verification Toolkit, this utility should only be recommended for tech-savvy users or those who suspect Pegasus is tracking them.

Source: Forbes