The phone number of Telegram founder Pavel Durov is on a list of 50,000 numbers targeted by Pegasus spyware. Apparently Durov is aware that he has been being monitored by Israeli company spyware since 2018.
In a blog posted on his Telegram channel, Durov said that he was aware that one of his phone numbers had been targeted by spyware, though the NSO Group, creator of the Pegasus spyware, denied it. But he says he's not worried.
"Personally, I'm not worried: since 2011, when I was still living in Russia, I was accustomed to the assumption that all my cell phones were interrupted," Durov wrote on his blog in the Telegram.
Durov admits that anyone who breaks into his cell phone will not find important personal information. Because its phones are packed with concept designs for new features as well as millions of messages related to the Telegram product development process.
As the founder and product manager of Telegram, Durov is indeed responsible for directly testing all the new features that will be launched by the ordering service.
What worries Durov is how spyware like this is used to keep an eye on people more important than him. From the leaked list of targets for Pegasus spyware alone, there are phone numbers belonging to 14 heads of state, including French President Emmanuel Macron.
On the Pegasus spyware case, Durov also blamed Apple and Google. He was referring to findings expressed by Edward Snowden who said that Apple and Google were part of a global spy program, which showed both companies had back-to-back operating systems.
Durov said this back door is typically used by the U.S. government to access information from any cell phone. But if the U.S. government can access this back door, then other parties can do the same.
“The existence of backspace in critical infrastructure and software poses huge challenges for humans,” Durov said.
"That's why I'm asking world governments to act against the Apple-Google duopoly in the mobile market and force them to open up their closed ecosystems and allow for more competition."
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CYBER LIFE
