Pegasus: what normal phone users can do

The Pegasus Project, a group of media outlets with Amnesty’s lab, reported this month that NSO Group’s spyware was used against journalists, activists and politicians, sometimes through zero-click iMessage exploits: no link to tap, nothing to install.

This kind of tool costs a lot and is aimed at specific people. Most of us aren’t targets. But the habits that make it harder help everyone:

• Update your phone quickly. Many fixes this year closed exactly these holes.
• Restart your phone regularly. Some spyware doesn’t survive a reboot.
• Remove apps you don’t use, and turn off features you never use, like iMessage, if you’re at higher risk.
• Keep sensitive conversations to apps with end-to-end encryption and disappearing messages.

If you work in a high-risk role and suspect something, groups like Amnesty’s Security Lab and Citizen Lab publish tools and guidance. Ask for help early.