What is Pegasus, the Israeli mobile phone spyware used by governments around the world?

On Monday, it was revealed that the French investigative journalism organization, Forbidden Stories and human rights charity Amnesty International, had gained access to a leaked database containing tens of thousands of phone numbers under surveillance by clients of an Israeli security firm, NSO.

NSO’s customers include governments and national security agencies. The company sells software known as Pegasus, a sophisticated spyware programme that can access even the encrypted messages on a mobile phone, all while remaining undetected.

Here’s what’s been revealed by the Pegasus Project so far.

How does Pegasus work?

It’s spyware, a piece of software that spies on the user of a device. Unlike most spyware, Pegasus doesn’t require its victims to unwittingly download it, for example by opening an infected attachment or clicking a link…