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adkwriter15's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.0
I watched a PBS Frontline documentary on this investigation that was really interesting, and so I decided to read the book for more details. However, the book I found bizarrely boring for the weight of the information given. It gives you a lot of details on the software and the coding and all that, which someone more interested in that than me might get more out of. Unless you are interested in the cyber ins and outs, the PBS documentary is free to watch on YouTube.
helena_chris's review
dark
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
4.5
It took me a very long time to get into this book and to understand all of the different side-stories and background. But by the end of it I understand why they were all there. Without the backgrounds of all of these different people involved - whether it be the CEO of NSO, a journalist, or de engineers who vetted through phones to find proof of Pegasus infiltration - you simply don't get the same sense of impact.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking and Murder
Moderate: Confinement, Death, and Forced institutionalization
Minor: Rape, Torture, Violence, and War
x_chrissie_reads_x's review
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.0
Pegasus, the most cunning cyber surveillance system where those who are targeted by the malware have no idea they’re being watched. No notification, no reason to question the thing that is their iPhone, Android, or laptop. As described by the CEO of the company, Pegasus was a ‘trojan horse’ that was ‘sent flying through the air to devices’ and claimed that it was never mis-used for illegal ventures.
A system used by governments, the UAE, Israel, Morocco, and the USA (with many more) is bound to be taken into the wrong hands and turned into a result with malicious intentions. That’s just paranoia speaking, right? No technological system that is of such danger can go that long unregulated without anyone popping a question mark.
Turns out, if you pay millions of dollars to keep someone’s silence, every raised eyebrow can be swept under the rug.
A system used by governments, the UAE, Israel, Morocco, and the USA (with many more) is bound to be taken into the wrong hands and turned into a result with malicious intentions. That’s just paranoia speaking, right? No technological system that is of such danger can go that long unregulated without anyone popping a question mark.
Turns out, if you pay millions of dollars to keep someone’s silence, every raised eyebrow can be swept under the rug.
And how can one really question something that isn’t even there?
The novel Pegasus starts off with an anonymous source revealing a list of 50,000 phone numbers that had been targeted by people that used the Pegasus spyware program; one of them being the president of France. This is the stepping stone for journalists Laurent Richard and Sandrine Riguad toward the biggest scandal that led to a mass shooting in France at their office, and bringing to light the journalists, human rights defenders, lawyers and political figures that were suppressed and murdered by those who had access to Pegasus.
A story that sounds like a myth, but is proven true to the core is pursued by the high end forces of powerful government figures that frantically try to keep the truth veiled. Through a great writing style presented by Sandrine and Laurent, with descriptions to easily explain complicated politics and technological languages, the lies that hold the dynasty of Pegasus finally come to light – and the truth shocks society to the core.
Rating: ⅘ – mainly given for the braveness shown by those involved in the Pegasus Project.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Violence, Islamophobia, Mass/school shootings, Murder, and Gaslighting
Minor: Rape and Torture