Weaponization of tech: A persistent threat facing all
MPs Mahua Moitra, Shashi Tharoor and Asaduddin Owaisi, received a message from Apple. It read: “State-sponsored attackers may be targeting your iPhone." Besides them, two editors also received the message. Siddharth Varadarajan, one of them, had caused a stir in Indian politics in July 2021 when he revealed the deployment of Pegasus spyware on mobile phones and other devices.
His report said the phones of some politicians of note (Rahul Gandhi among them), judges, journalists and businessmen were being monitored on an extensive level for the first time. After causing a political flutter, the case reached the Supreme Court, which in October 2021 appointed a technical committee to probe the incident. The committee presented its report to the Supreme Court the following year.
The apex court then ruled that the findings should not be made public. Should it be assumed that such a high-profile case was politically motivated? It would be inappropriate to jump to any conclusion. The use of spyware against the country’s officials, businesses and journalists for personal or political gain is undoubtedly unethical and objectionable, but such software cannot be outright banned.
Every country in the world has used them to keep terrorists, their backers and their strategists in the country and abroad under watch. One such case recently made headlines when President Draupadi Murmu fired an Army major posted to the Strategic Force Command. The major was suspected of keeping sensitive information on his phone and using it against the country.
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