Rona Wilson’s iPhone hacked by Pegasus: forensic report

A report released by U.S. forensic investigation firm Arsenal Consultancy on Friday has revealed that activist Rona Wilson’s cell phone was attacked by the Pegasus spyware 49 different times and was successful in infecting his phone before his arrest on June 6, 2018, for alleged involvement in the Bhima Koregaon violence case.

Arsenal Consultancy, the Boston-based forensic investigation firm assisting in the case and Amnesty Tech Security Lab, have confirmed that Mr. Wilson’s iPhone was attacked multiple times by the spyware.

The report mentions “49 different instances of Pegasus attack and sometimes of successful infection on Mr Wilson’s iPhone between July 5, 2017 and April 10, 2018. Mr. Wilson’s computer had been hacked by the NetWire Remote Access Trojan (RAT) between June 13, 2016 and April 17, 2018 — covering the same period — to plant incriminating files on his computer. The same had been done to the computer of another accused Surendra Gadling. Arsenal also confirmed that neither Mr. Wilson nor Mr. Gadling had ever opened the incriminating files in question.”