India Ranks Second in Pegasus Spyware Targets, Reveals Meta Court Filing

Meta has accused the NSO Group of using its Pegasus spyware to target 100 WhatsApp users in India, a court filing reveals.

The filing is part of Meta’s 2019 lawsuit against the Israeli firm in the US. In total, 1,223 people across 51 countries were targeted using Pegasus, according to the document.

Mexico had the most victims, with 456 users affected. India came next with 100, followed by Bahrain (82), Morocco (69), Pakistan (58) and Indonesia (54).

The document’s ‘Victim Country Count’ list also mentions countries like the US (1), Canada (2), UK (2), France (7), and Spain (22), though their numbers were far lower.

The 2019 attack exploited a flaw in WhatsApp that allowed spyware to be installed via calls—even unanswered ones. WhatsApp later patched the vulnerability.

Meta sued NSO because it couldn’t take legal action against the countries that use Pegasus. In 2020, a US appeals court rejected NSO’s request to dismiss the case.

In 2021, Pegasus was reportedly used to target several Indian politicians and journalists. The list included Rahul Gandhi, Prashant Kishore, Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, and former Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa.