Self-scans reveal that Pegasus, an invasive and powerful spyware that can secretly control phones and track owners, might be more widespread than previously thought. It was discovered on the phones of everyday phone users.

From wikiHow: How to Check Your Smartphone for Pegasus Spyware

  • sepi
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    1877 days ago

    There could be spyware on your phone! Install this shady app to find out if you have the spyware or not!

    I wonder if the shady app in the link is the spyware. This would be a brilliant way of getting on to people’s phones.

    • @[email protected]OP
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      497 days ago

      Yeah, I see what you mean and on top of that you would need to pay for it.

      That’s why I added in the description a link with instructions on the free tool designed by Amnesty International’s Security Lab.

    • Irdial
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      287 days ago

      My thoughts exactly… If there’s a FOSS tool to check, then we’d be talking.

    • @rottingleaf
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      96 days ago

      It worked with antivirus scanning - more than half of Windows PCs have spyware on them their users consciously installed so that it would scan and report what they run.

      • @Squizzy
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        25 days ago

        All windows PCs have spyware on them by definition

    • @[email protected]
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      157 days ago

      Yeah, I’ll just assume that my GrapheneOS install is safe, the checker probably wouldn’t work anyway…

    • @CosmoNova
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      35 days ago

      That’s outdated stuff. Pegasus doesn’t need phishing methods to get on your phone. It just installs itself when an actor sends it your way. You won’t notice it and the only way to prevent it is to not use a phone.

    • LostXOR
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      127 days ago

      What do you mean??? WikiHow is a collection of only the most reliable tutorials and information. Now be good and install the shady app.

    • @AWittyUsername
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      36 days ago

      Nothing like a shading backdoor onto people’s devices than a literal Trojan horse such as a virus scanner.

    • @[email protected]
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      17 days ago

      Doesn’t seem like they’d offer the ability to scan an existing backup without touching your device, if that were the case

  • Irdial
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    907 days ago

    Amnesty International provides a FOSS tool to check your mobile backups for traces of the Pegasus Spyware. I’d trust that over a sketchy proprietary app. Link: https://docs.mvt.re.

    • @gcheliotis
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      186 days ago

      Cool. I had no idea. Still…

      MVT is a forensic research tool intended for technologists and investigators. Using it requires understanding the basics of forensic analysis and using command-line tools. MVT is not intended for end-user self-assessment. If you are concerned with the security of your device please seek expert assistance.

      • @[email protected]
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        6 days ago

        It can help you if you think you are BUT especially with iPhones it can only scan your backup, unless you jailbreak the phone and can do a full disk dump.

        As a mobile security expert this is just one of the tools in the kit, but it ought not be used by a “end user” as a verification tool. This does NOT verify you aren’t being tracked, it can only verify that signatures of the malware exist.

        • @gcheliotis
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          26 days ago

          And would signatures of Pegasus exist in the backup?

          • @[email protected]
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            6 days ago

            Yes. Maybe. Sometimes. Much more likely if you do an encrypted backup and decrypt it with the tool.

            Regardless it’s not guaranteed to pick them up.

            • @gcheliotis
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              16 days ago

              May give it a try one of these days. But knowing nothing of the reliability of the tool in detecting the malware decreases my motivation to even try I must say.

      • @A_A
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        6 days ago

        Everyone is safe from Pegasus …
        Except cell phone owners (which is most everyone)
        Exception to the exception : people who know about this excellent FOOS tool (and know someone who can use it) - - thanks

    • @BrianTheeBiscuiteer
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      36 days ago

      Ugh. So it looks like I can’t even do this with Termux. Gotta dig out one of my few cables that does data transfer.

  • @[email protected]
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    306 days ago

    You can use pip to install the tool.

    it’s call mvt

    Your package manager might have it.

    If you’re on a Mac just use brew to install it.

    Don’t use this third party app.

  • Radioactive Butthole
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    6 days ago

    Download a random app an execute it blindly to check for some malware I’ve never heard of? Hard pass.

      • @IHawkMike
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        126 days ago

        I don’t know the full answer, but Pegasus isn’t one single piece of spyware, but rather a toolkit of many, many zero-day exploits.

        A lot of them (the majority maybe?) are non-persistent meaning that they don’t survive a reboot.

        That said, aside from keeping your phone up to date with security patches and rebooting frequently, I’m not sure there’s much the average person can do if you’re actively being targeted.

      • @9tr6gyp3
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        107 days ago

        Buy/replace your phone

        • GHiLA
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          26 days ago

          How do you keep that one from reinfecting?

          • @9tr6gyp3
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            6 days ago

            You can try factory reset, but more than likely they control the boot process, so you can’t get rid of the malware no matter what you do.

            You might be able to trade it in with your manufacturer. They might be interested in having an infected phone to study.

      • @[email protected]
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        16 days ago

        I installed GrapheneOS the moment I got my phone, which should give me a few protections over standard Android.

        Longer term, I intend to get a Linux phone, I’m just waiting for the hardware and software to improve. I already almost entirely avoid the Play store, so making the final switch shouldn’t be that big of a jump.

  • @AnotherWorld
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    97 days ago

    And google pixel flashed on Ubuntu touch? 😏

  • @9tr6gyp3
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    57 days ago

    deleted by creator

    • @IHawkMike
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      106 days ago

      I’d be careful about completely trusting any AV to give you any certainty that you aren’t infected.

      As I mentioned in another comment, Pegasus is comprised of many different exploits. So just because Bitdefender can detect some older Pegasus variants, doesn’t mean it can detect all of them.

      In fact it’s quite unlikely they can detect the latest variants.

  • @RangerJosie
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    -306 days ago

    I don’t care. I’m a wage slave. Not a senator or exec at some financial firm.

    • @AWittyUsername
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      76 days ago

      Cool I bet you sleep with your curtains/blinds open, don’t lock your doors and post your address online right? Who cares about privacy.