A recent legal filing has revealed that over 100 Indian individuals were among the 1,223 global targets of the Israeli spyware Pegasus, during a two-month hacking campaign carried out in 2019 through a security breach in WhatsApp.
The disclosure forms part of the evidence presented in an ongoing legal battle between WhatsApp and NSO Group Technologies, the developers of Pegasus. The lawsuit, filed in the United States, accuses the Israeli firm of exploiting a vulnerability in WhatsApp to carry out unauthorized surveillance on approximately 1,400 users, including journalists, human rights defenders, and civil society members.
WhatsApp has already won the case in a landmark ruling delivered last year. However, a separate hearing is set to determine the monetary damages that the NSO Group will be required to pay.
As part of the proceedings, WhatsApp submitted a document titled “Victim Country Count”, detailing the number of spyware victims by country. According to the chart, users from 51 countries were targeted between April and May 2019. Mexico recorded the highest number of victims at 456, followed by India, where 100 individuals were reportedly affected.
Other affected nations include Bahrain (82), Morocco (69), Pakistan (58), Indonesia (54), Israel (51), and several European countries including Spain (21) and France (7). The United States had a single confirmed case.
This is not the first time Pegasus has raised alarms in India. In 2021, separate reports indicated that over 300 Indian mobile numbers were potentially compromised. These included high-profile individuals such as sitting ministers, Opposition leaders, journalists, and even one constitutional authority.
What makes Pegasus especially controversial is its exclusive sale to government agencies and law enforcement entities. Despite this restriction, concerns have persisted about its alleged misuse for political surveillance and suppression of dissent. Investigations have indicated that the spyware may have been deployed by various regimes to track activists, media personnel, and political opponents.
The financial scope of Pegasus’s reach also came into focus, with reports suggesting that countries like Mexico may have spent up to $60 million on the spyware. At one point, NSO Group was reportedly selling a one-year license for Pegasus for up to $6.8 million, earning the company over $31 million in revenue in 2019 alone.
In light of international criticism, the spyware firm is said to have terminated contracts with 10 governments after confirming misuse of its technology.
The latest filing reinforces longstanding concerns about the global impact of Pegasus and the urgent need for stronger safeguards around the use of surveillance technologies.
