New Delhi: The Ministry of Defense on Monday said that it did not have a transaction with the NSO Group, an Israeli company in the center of alleged reconnaissance controversy involving Pegasus spyware.
The ministry said this in a written response in Rajya Sabha.
This is the first time the government responds to questions pointing to the Snooping Row Pegasus.
The opposition has put up a spicy attack on the government during the ongoing Monsun Parliamentary session, asking him to have a full debate on this problem.
A large controversy has erupted last month on charges of government supervision targeting various leading individuals in the country using Israeli software.
An international media consortium has reported that more than 300 Verified Indian mobile numbers are on a potential target list for supervision using the Israeli company Pegasus Spyware NSO.
Opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi, two union ministers – Prahlad Singh Patel and Railways and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw – Anil Ambani Entrepreneurs, a former CBI head, and at least 40 journalists are on the list on the leaked NSO database.
However, it is not set that all cellphones are hacked.