Home » Technology » It has already been detected in computers in Spain and can also affect smartphones

It has already been detected in computers in Spain and can also affect smartphones

Microsoft has explained in your cybersecurity blog that a malware called ‘Sourgum’ has been used to spy on more than 100 people. Among them are politicians, activists, journalists, academics, embassy workers and political dissidents.

This malicious code was created by Candiru, an Israeli company specialized in selling software to governments, and attacks the Windows operating system in order to spy on devices. According to Microsoft, the malware was used in Spain, specifically in Catalonia, as well as in other countries.

The American company has indicated that the fact that there are Sourgum victims in a country “does not necessarily mean that an agency in the same country”Have contracted the services of Candiru. According to Microsoft, it is very common for attacks originating in third countries to occur.

Candiru is a company that develops hacking tools that are used to illegally access other people’s computers and servers. According to Microsoft, these companies sell malicious software packages to government agencies to trespass on citizens’ devices.

Along with its advisory, Microsoft launched a series of digital safeguards to get rid of malicious software. Among the more than 100 people affected, the US company has communicated that about half were located in Palestine, and the rest in Israel, Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, Catalonia (Spain), the United Kingdom, Turkey, Armenia and Singapore.

The mobile of the president of the Parliament of Catalonia infected with Pegasus

The malware takes advantage of a WhatsApp flaw to sneak into devices.

It should not be forgotten that, in addition to Sourgum, there has been a lot of buzz lately around Pegasus, another spyware, but from Candiru’s rival Israeli company, NSO Group. An investigation by El País together with The Guardian, discovered that the mobile of the president of the Catalan Parliament, Roger Torrent (ERC) was attacked with Pegasus in 2019.

The intrusion on the phone was carried out because of a WhatsApp security breach between April and May 2019. In this period of time, attempts were made to introduce NSO Group spyware into approximately 1,400 terminals around the world.

According to Citizen Lab, a cybersecurity group at the Munk School of the University of Toronto (Canada) took advantage of the failure of the messaging application to introduce Pegasus. WhatsApp provided Citizen Lab with the numbers of the victims of the malware and, among them, was that of Torrent.

Through Pegasus, you can listen to conversations, read messages, access your hard drive, take screenshots, access your browsing history, and remotely activate the microphone and camera.

According to Citizen Lab, Torrent is one of 130 people who have been unjustified victims of NSO’s cyber espionage program since 2016.. The Canadian team has pointed out that they cannot identify who ordered the attack, but that the company that created Pegasus “sells its products exclusively to governments”.

The Government has no evidence that the President of the Parliament of Catalonia, Roger Torrent, has been the target of a hack”, Said a spokesman for the Executive for El País who also explains that the intervention of the communications is carried out with a court order.

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