Espionage, Murder and Pegasus Spyware come to light in a special partnership between Exile Content Studios and the Committee to Protect Journalists. Hosts Rose Reid and Nando Vila examine the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and his inner circle that had the world's most sophisticated military-grade spyware confirmed on their phones. It's called Pegasus. How did this spyware come to be, how does it work, and how vulnerable are you? Every other week Shoot The Messenger investigates Pegasus, the Israeli technology company that makes it, the NSO Group, and the cyber war industry that is booming around it. You have heard the headlines — this is the deep dive.
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Exiled Russian Journalist Hacked with Pegasus
In this bonus episode of Shoot the Messenger, we share a special interview host Rose Reid did with Russian journalist and founder of the media outlet Meduza, Galina Timchenko. Citizen Lab and Access Now confirmed Galina Timchenko had been infected with Pegasus — which is the first documented case of the use of Pegasus against a Russian journalist. Before Galina Timchenko was the editor in chief of Meduza, she ran one of Russia’s most popular media outlets, called Lenta.ru. She was fired as Lenta.ru’s chief editor in 2014, after Vladimir Putin returned to power, the same year of Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Since 2014, Galina and her team have been reporting on Russia in exile. We’ll launch our second season in early 2024 - which investigates “Who Killed the President of Haiti?” In the meantime, we will bring you monthly bonus episodes - featuring our favorite shows and updates on Pegasus.
BONUS: The Spy Inside Your Phone, a special collab with Reveal
We partnered with our friends at Reveal for a special episode on Pegasus, “The Spy Inside Your Smartphone,” featuring a deeper dive in the hacking of the El Faro newsroom in El Salvador and an interview with co-host Rose Reid. Reveal, hosted by Al Letson, is a weekly investigative news show. You can hear it weekly on your local NPR station, or subscribe here. We are hard at work on Season 2, which will air in early 2024. In the meantime, every month, we will bring you a special bonus episode - it will be either an update on Pegasus, or a teaser for our upcoming season Haiti, or we will bring you a new show we think you will love. Stay tuned for a special episode on Pegasus in October.
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10. A Blacklist, an Executive Order, and Front Companies to Circumvent it All
Shoot the Messenger: Espionage, Murder and Pegasus Spyware concludes its first season with its tenth episode. Up until now, this show has focused on the use of Pegasus in foreign countries. But while we were in the middle of releasing the episodes of this season, a pair of New York Times journalists published a bombshell report that showed that the US government is making monthly payments to the NSO Group despite the official blacklisting of the company. Last month, Mark Mazzetti and Ronen Bergman published an article in the New York Times describing the secret deal that occurred between the US government and the NSO Group. Guests: New York Times Reporters Ronen Bergman and Mark Mazzetti We'd like to extend a special thanks to the Committee to Protect Journalists for their special collaboration on the first season of Shoot the Messenger. For more information on the status of journalists and freedom of the press - visit at cpj.org. Shoot the Messenger is hosted by Rose Reid and Nando Vila and is a production of Exile Content Studio.
9. 50,000 Phone Numbers
Shoot the Messenger: Espionage, Murder and Pegasus Spyware continues with its ninth episode, a conversation with Sandrine Rigaud and Laurent Richard of Forbidden Stories, the organization behind the Pegasus Project. Published in July 2021, the findings of the Pegasus Project sent shockwaves throughout the world. The leaked data showed that at least 180 journalists had been selected as targets of Pegasus spyware in countries like India, Mexico, Hungary, Morocco and France, among others. One of the possible targets? Current French president Emmanuel Macron. Sandrine and Laurent describe what it was like to watch these cases play out in real time. Donncha Ó Cearbhaill of Amnesty International worked alongside the Forbidden Stories team running forensics on potential targets’ cell phones, searching for evidence of infection. The work they did together changed everything. Shoot the Messenger is hosted by Rose Reid and Nando Vila and is a production of Exile Content Studio. Guests: Sandrine Rigaud, Laurent Richard and Donncha Ó Cearbhaill
8. Living with Pegasus
Shoot the Messenger: Espionage, Murder and Pegasus Spyware continues with its eighth episode, a special interview with acclaimed journalist Carlos Dada about the intense targeting of him and his newsroom, El Faro, in El Salvador. El Faro is no stranger to threats and intimidation - which has increased under the administration of President Nayib Bukele. Pegasus was used to spy on Carlos Dada for more than a 100 days in a row. Between June 2020 to November 2021, more than 20 members of El Faro were infected with NSO Group's Pegasus spyware. John Scott-Railton of Citizen Lab worked to identify the El Faro breach — this was one of the most obsessive cases of spying Citizen Lab has ever seen. Shoot the Messenger is hosted by Rose Reid and Nando Vila and is a production of Exile Content Studio. Guests: Carlos Dada and John Scott-Railton
7. Pegasus, Netanyahu’s Foreign Bargaining Chip
Shoot the Messenger: Espionage, Murder and Pegasus Spyware continues with its seventh episode, revealing a pattern of Pegasus as a bargaining chip for foreign relations. Over the past decade, under the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - there is a direct correlation between his travels, his meet and greets with world leaders…and the proliferation of Pegasus spyware. Where Netanyahu goes, Pegasus seems to follow. As Netanyahu asserts his control over a divisive Israel, should we expect to see an increase in the scope of NSO Group's capabilities in digital surveillance? This industry has boomed during Netanyahu's tenure - and he has famously said, "Don't over-regulate." Shoot the Messenger is hosted by Rose Reid and Nando Vila and is a production of Exile Content Studio. Guests: Keshet’s Amitai Ziv; Financial Times’ Mehul Srivastava; Citizen Lab’s Scott Stedman
6. How Are Ordinary Americans Supporting the Makers of Pegasus?
Shoot the Messenger: Espionage, Murder and Pegasus Spyware continues with its sixth episode, breaking down the private equity funds behind the makers of Pegasus. The NSO Group has grown from a few founders working in a renovated chicken coop to being valued at over $2 billion dollars. Where did that money come from? We dive into the complex financial web behind the NSO Group, with a structure supported by pension funds, potential clients, and power players, and how they went from being valued in the billions to being strapped for cash. Shoot the Messenger is hosted by Rose Reid and Nando Vila and is a production of Exile Content Studio. Confirmed guests: Financial Times’ Kaye Wiggins; Keshet journalist Amitai Ziv; Oregon activist Sravya Tadepalli
5. WhatsApp and Facebook Take the NSO Group to Court
Shoot the Messenger: Espionage, Murder and Pegasus Spyware continues with its fifth episode. As WhatsApp and Facebook bring NSO to court in the federal court, the future of the NSO Group is in jeopardy and their tactics are further exposed. After Pegasus breached WhatsApp - it started a chain reaction of negative events for the NSO Group, calling into question their valuation of $2B, making a public enemy of Silicon Valley, causing them to be blacklisted in the US, and initiating several major lawsuits leading all the way to the Supreme Court. Five months after the Pegasus breach, WhatsApp and their parent company Facebook (now Meta) filed a lawsuit against NSO Group in California. Apple followed suit, setting up a showdown between Silicon Valley and the NSO Group. And that’s not all - groups such as Access Now, Amnesty International, and the Committee to Protect Journalists banded together to file an amicus brief in support of the WhatsApp lawsuit. The potential legal ramifications of these cases could affect everyone with a smartphone - even you. Guests: Access Now's counsel Natalia Krapiva; Attorney Kyle McLorg Shoot the Messenger is hosted by Rose Reid and Nando Vila and is a production of Exile Content Studio.
4. The Day Pegasus Breached WhatsApp
Shoot the Messenger: Espionage, Murder and Pegasus Spyware continues with its fourth episode, exposing what really happened at WhatsApp when it was breached by Pegasus in 2019. The WhatsApp breach is a critical moment because it has put everything the NSO Group has built at risk - calling into question their valuation of $2B, making a public enemy of Silicon Valley, and initiating several major lawsuits leading all the way to the Supreme Court. In many ways, this exploit changed the trajectory of the NSO Group and its Pegasus spyware. The continuous fallout - and potential legal precedents - could affect everyone with a smartphone. Engineers Claudiu Dan Gheorghe and Otto Ebeling take us behind the scenes of what it was like to be working at WhatsApp that fateful day where Pegasus used an exploit on the WhatsApp software. Across the globe, we'll see how the hacking of WhatsApp affected real people - like those fighting for independence in Catalonia, Spain. Guests: Financial Times journalist Mehul Srivastava, Security Advisor Ian Amit, and former WhatsApp engineers who witnessed the Pegasus breach, Otto Ebeling and Claudiu Dan Gheorghe Shoot the Messenger is hosted by Rose Reid and Nando Vila and is a production of Exile Content Studio.