The NSO Group categorises the snooping into three levels: initial data extraction, passive monitoring, and active collection. Zero-click installation that requires no action by the target is not the only ability that makes Pegasus the super spyware it is. What also makes it unique is the capability of “active collection”, which gives attackers the power to “control the information” they want to collect from the targeted device. This set of features, says a marketing pitch of the Israeli company NSO Group that developed Pegasus, are called “active as they carry their collection upon explicit request of the operator”, and “differentiates Pegasus from any other intelligence collection solution”, that is, spyware. “Instead of just waiting for information to arrive, hoping this is the information you were looking for, the operator actively retrieves important information from the device, getting the exact information he was looking for,” the NSO pitch says. ‘Active’ da...
Cyber-warriors wage war using information technology. They may attack computers or information systems through hacking or other related strategies, or defend them from their counterparts. Cyber-warriors also may find better ways to secure a system by finding vulnerabilities through hacking and other means and closing those vulnerabilities before other hackers find and exploit them.