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The German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) acquired access to the Pegasus spy software (NSO Group) in 2019 after internal attempts to develop similar surveillance tools for iOS and Android failed.
The German government announced the agreement with NSO in a closed session of the German Bundestag's Committee on Internal Affairs on Tuesday, as reported by "Die Zeit." It remains unclear when the BKA actually began using Pegasus. While "Die Zeit" reports that the tool was acquired in 2019 and is currently being used in conjunction with a less effective, state-developed Trojan, quoted The Süddeutsche Zeitung interviewed BKA Vice President Martina Link with the Confirmationthat it was purchased at the end of 2020 and used in March against suspects of terrorism and organized crime.
Pegasus is considered powerful spy software
The decision to use Pegasus came despite concerns about the legality of using software that allows almost unfettered access to iPhone and Android devices. As mentioned in the report, NSO's spyware exploits zero-day vulnerabilities to gain access to smartphones, including the latest iPhones, and record conversations, collect location data, access chat logs, and more. Current laws in this country state that authorities can only break into suspects' phones and computers under special circumstances, while similarly strict rules apply to surveillance.
BKA fails in attempt to develop its own spy tool
According to the report, BKA officials have stipulated that only certain functions of Pegasus may be activated in order to bring the powerful tool into line with the country's data protection laws. Whether this is true cannot, of course, be verified. Die Zeit reports, citing informed sources, that the BKA first spoke to NSO about a possible licensing agreement in 2017. But the plan is said to have been delayed due to concerns about the software's capabilities. Based on this, an attempt was made to develop its own spy tool, which ultimately failed.
Cyberattacks: Apple will patch the vulnerabilities
The Pegasus tool is provided by the NSO Group as a means of spying on criminals. Of course, the tool can also be used against the good guys. A group of at least ten governments are believed to be NSO customers, such as Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Rwanda and the UAE. Non-criminal targets seem to be only those who might criticize a government, such as journalists, so the average consumer has no need to fear this spyware - although it remains troubling on the whole. Finally, abuse of the spyware is not out of the question. Apple will likely patch all attack vectors used by Pegasus in upcoming software updates. However, this will always remain a game of cat and mouse as long as new vulnerabilities are discovered in the wild.
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