A leaflet advertising Pegasus has been leaked. It presents the 10 most important espionage functions

Pegasus is a spy tool created by the Israeli company NSO Group many years ago, but only now is it really loud. According to media reports, as well as the expertise of the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto and Amnesty International, Pegasus was used to intercept at least a few people who were unfavorable to the authorities in Poland. They are senator Krzysztof Brejza, prosecutor Ewa Wrzosek and lawyer Roman Giertych.

What can Pegasus do? A leaked flyer

We have often described in Gazeta.pl how the NSO Group spy software most likely works and what opportunities it offers to the operator that uses Pegasus. Only that most of this information has either leaked to the network or is based on information from industry experts, because the software manufacturer does not reveal such data.

The NSO Group merely declares that Pegasus was created to “help government agencies investigate and prevent terrorism and crime, to save thousands of lives worldwide.” According to the company’s declaration, Pegasus may, inter alia, prevent terrorism and crimes with the use of weapons, break down drug and human trafficking gangs, find kidnapped children or help emergency services find survivors in disasters. Nothing about how it works or what it can do.

However, this is what we now learn from a flyer created in 2015 by the North American division of the NSO Group, WestBridge. This flyer has just been leaked online (you can find it). As we read, “Pegasus is a comprehensive cyber intelligence software that steals all data remotely and secretly from any smartphone.” The most important spy functions of the Pegasus – according to the information on the leaflet – include:

1. insight into SMS and e-mails,
2. access to the telephone book,
3. tracking internet browsing history,
4. phone location tracking,
5. access to accounts on social networks,
6. access to instant messaging services,
7. taking and stealing screenshots,
8. taking and stealing photos,
9. recording with a microphone,
10. interception of phone calls.

Of course, we cannot verify the originality of the leaflet, but its authenticity seems likely. It must also be admitted that the list of Pegasus features is impressive and is in line with what we already know about the software from other sources. And that’s not the end of the Pegasus spy benefits.

On the back of the leaflet we can read that the software is able to “collect unique data”, including passwords to accounts in applications, also reads encrypted information, monitors the work of programs installed on the phone and works completely independent of third parties, including AT&T and Verizona (the most popular telecoms in the US) as well as Apple and Google. According to the leaflet, Pegasus can attack smartphones of all the most popular manufacturers at that time (in 2015), incl. Apple, Samsung, Motorola, LG, Blackberry and Sony.

As stated in the leaflet description, the software is used to “prevent terrorism and maintain public safety”. WestBridge points out that its services are directed to intelligence and law enforcement agencies, and the company’s products are intended to be “a way for governments to solve problems.” And although these words can be treated ambiguously now, the author probably meant solving problems with crime and terrorism.