'1,400 WhatsApp users including France President Macron targeted in 2019 Pegasus attack'

WhatsApp CEO, Cathcart said that the reports of spying made known earlier this week matched 'what we saw in the attack we defeated two years ago'

The WhatsApp accounts of 1,400 users across the world — including US allies, like Emmanuel Macron — were all victims of a hack initiated by governments using NSO Group's Pegasus spyware, WhatsApp chief executive told The Guardian.

Will Cathcart, CEO of the popular messaging platform told the publication that French President Emmanuel Macron was among over a thousand government officials, ministers and diplomats whose phone numbers were targeted using the spyware for possible surveillance by NSO's clients back in 2019.

In wake of the newer developments, Macron had "himself changed his phone and number for certain exchanges," a statement by the French Defence Council read.

Cathcart said that the reports of spying made known earlier this week matched "what we saw in the attack we defeated two years ago," and that many of the targets in the 2019 attack had “no business being under surveillance in any way, shape, or form.” The WhatsApp boss added that this was a wake-up call for internet security, asserting that "mobile phones are either safe for everyone or they are not safe for everyone.”

Explained | How does Pegasus spyware work?

While NSO dismissed numerous reports that over 50,000 numbers were snooped on as "exaggerated," Cathcart, in his interview with publication questioned their stance and claimed that the firm's spyware had targeted 1,400 users in just two weeks in 2019.

The explosive revelations on the Pegasus snooping were made on July 18 when a group of media organisations, including India's The Wire, published reports claiming the alleged misuse of the spyware by governments across the world.

In India alone, the numbers of journalists, activists, intelligence officials, politicians including Rahul Gandhi and new IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, and even the Dalai Lama's advisors were believed to have been potential targets.

(With agency inputs)