Pegasus was in the news again just a few days ago. Along with spyware, the Israeli company NSO Group, owner of the culprit of all the evils of the moment, specifically those related to privacy and security on the network. It was not the first time, far from it. Its long history of international grievances has already targeted what is considered one of the most dangerous weapons of the future and, yes, of the present as well.
And what happened 6 days after the investigation carried out by a group of international media? The reality is that little. Disappointing. In line with other attacks against democracy, freedom of the press or expression or internet security, nothing has happened. With a list of 50,000 names, including politicians, intellectuals, journalists and families infected by the software, you might think that raising awareness about network security is a front-line issue. Beyond specialized media or critics of the sector, the matter has remained at street level in nothing more than an anecdote. A line at the bottom of the page or news story predisposed to turn the page to the next topic of the day. Probably referring to the coronavirus: who cares about the security of a mobile when a virus can kill you?
The truth is that questions like Pegasus make us wonder something essential: the greatest threat to privacy is not spyware like Pegasus or a security breach in this or another public administration or application. The worst thing is that people don't care in the least. Or, at least, it does nothing to prevent it. And this is an increasingly constant normality.
The internet bubble that does not know how to transcend, beyond Pegasus
Photo by Tobias Tullius on Unsplash Hundreds of news stories, studies, analysis and detailed follow-ups have followed the news. It would be unfair to say that there have been no reactions from either side. There have been, but not the last affected.
Nobody has taken to the streets so it has been a constant for a long time. Beyond the security flaws in Administrations, something in which Spain already occupies the podium, there is not a day in which there is no company that uses data or the privacy of users for its profit. Uber, in Australia, has been accused of interfering with more than 1 million customers in the country. Another day, it is Peloton with a security breach that gives access to its users' data. The day after tomorrow, who knows.
It doesn't matter if they interfere with my privacy, I have nothing to hide
And although the Internet bubble raises a cry in the sky, you will only have to ask in the street to get the same answer: It does not matter that they interfere with my privacy, I have nothing to hide . A very common response that hides a great danger behind it and that ends up falling into the constant acceptance of the idea that anyone is easy prey, but it does not matter.
They say that spying on a journalist has nothing to do with spying on an ordinary person when, in reality, it has everything to do with it. That monitored and persecuted communication professional is the representative of a freedom of expression curtailed for everyone. And as with everything, rights take centuries to obtain but minutes to go down the drain. It's not just social media, it's everything else.
With an ever-widening digital divide and an immense ignorance of the limits of technology, the rights of our digital “I” have not received the importance they deserve. And as they say, from those waters those muds, the result is a collective reluctance to what can be done on the network. A laziness that leaves aside the essential points of network security: updating the mobile, repeating passwords, refusing to use two-step verification because it is tedious. Anything goes for the network.
Where is the problem? As always, the media are in the spotlight for not portraying the reality of the situation well. We sing the mea culpa, let's be clear. But the eyes look to an education – the eternal battered – that does not finish accommodating itself in the digital world.
More fuel to the international fire
Photo by Fred Moon on Unsplash The international Pegasus scandal has indeed had an effect: adding fuel to the fire to the already intense international political climate . Governments spying on governments, and these at the same time their opponents and citizens. The response of the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, to his presence on the 50,000 list was to thoroughly investigate the espionage case. A Defense Council was started in order to find out what happened and weigh the response to Morocco, the origin of its presence on the list.
Meanwhile, Morocco itself, Hungary or India – the latter two are one of the main protagonists in commissions – deny the maxim. Whether or not you have used Pegasus spyware is your business and no one else's. Neither short nor lazy, they point to a great mass hysteria generated by the publication of the list. The pity is that, in fact, there is no such hysteria.
If international and diplomatic relations are not at their best, Pegasus has done the situation no good. With democracies analyzing the very concept of democracy in the 21st century, the threat is directly to the status quo of today's society. The tool that served to capture one of the most important drug traffickers of the 20th century, “El Chapo” Guzmán, is now the same one used to destroy democratic opponents or dissenting opinions.
Pegasus is a weapon against democracy itself which, of course, is already the meat of conspiracy theories on the networks. There is no event at this time that does not go through a theory of these. Are the victims the executioners themselves in order to win over their opponents? Or better: this is an act of the United States in the background through Israel in its mission to maintain world dominance.
Wash hands like Pontius Pilate of Pegasus
What does NSO Group think of all this? They will debug responsibilities through an internal investigation that we will probably never know anything about. The reality is that the Israeli company has made it clear that they are not responsible for what the contracting governments do with Pegasus spyware.
One of the founders of the company, in an interview with The Washington Post, already pointed to the company's policy. “Someone has to do the dirty work,” explained Shalev Hulio. Pegasus is the best tool for that mission. And with this, everything is clear.
What could you do about it? “The same as with nuclear weapons,” Snowden pointed out in an interview with The Guardian. I mean, nothing. Another pillar to the feeling of collective indolence in which in the face of impotence only inactivity fits. For Snowden, Pegasus spyware should be, de facto, banned as a technology with a moratorium international to its commercialization. Because NSO, like any company, in addition to saving the world, first wants to make money. End of the story hand in hand with a capitalism pushed to the limit, in which anything goes and is allowed.
