Using Texts as Lures, Government Spyware Targets Mexican Journalists and Their Families (nytimes.com)

Mexico's most prominent human rights lawyers, journalists and anti-corruption activists have been targeted by advanced spyware sold to the Mexican government on the condition that it be used only to investigate criminals and terrorists, reports the New York Times. From the report: The targets include lawyers looking into the mass disappearance of 43 students (alternative source), a highly respected academic who helped write anti-corruption legislation, two of Mexico's most influential journalists and an American representing victims of sexual abuse by the police. The spying even swept up family members, including a teenage boy. Since 2011, at least three Mexican federal agencies have purchased about $80 million worth of spyware created by an Israeli cyberarms manufacturer. The software, known as Pegasus, infiltrates smartphones to monitor every detail of a person's cellular life -- calls, texts, email, contacts and calendars. It can even use the microphone and camera on phones for surveillance, turning a target's smartphone into a personal bug.

Comments

Re:Wow, just...wow

[evolutionary]

Ummm..there is a LOT of misinformation. Problem is a lot of people are drinking the Kool-Aid. Trump is know for the very things he accuses anyone who speaks ill against him. It's true that we have a lot of misinformation or incomplete information but if you look CAREFULLY (like Fox News who constantly has to correct their headlines and are used by intelligent comedians for material), is the media with misinformation is often corrupted/coerced/bought out by the very people who accuse the media .Trump has been shown praising Fox news. Because they are basically mouthpieces of Republican party. Their official excuse is as a "balancing force" for the pro-Democrat news media outlets. All of that is basically government propaganda no better than the mainstream in China or Russia. So using Trump as an example of media abuse is a contradiction in terms (sorry but there is proven evidence). To be clear, I don't trust EITHER party (both have been shown corrupt at high levels) and I think we need a fresh 3rd party to keep them honest. But there ARE independent journalists and they are the ones primarily attacked. I'll give a few sources for you to examine:

https://fas.org/blogs/secrecy/
http://theintercept.com/
http://www.theguardian.com/
http://independent.co.uk/

Hopefully there will be more. Folks, please feel free to add to this list. Of course these people need donations to pay for their work. BTW, The Guardian and The Intercept worked together to expose the unconstitutional behavior of the NSA provided by Snowden. Pretty ballsy. If we want "real news" we need to find it and support it. otherwise the media companies and/or political parties will mute anything we truly need to know to have a real democracy.