Phone hacking has become too easy, PTA chief tells IHC
ISLAMABAD: Phone hacking has become so easy that if one leaves his mobile phone somewhere and goes to the washroom, a person can connect and hack it before its owner returns, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) chief has told the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
This was the explanation provided by PTA Chairman Major-general (retd) Hafeezur Rehman to a bench headed by IHC Justice Babar Satar during a hearing on the issue of audio leaks.
In earlier reports submited to the court, the spy agencies had also contended that phone calls could be tapped using mobile apps and viruses, and intelligence agencies were unable to trace the source of the hacking.
Rehman told the court that 90 per cent of mobile phones contain “viruses” that can operate inbuilt cameras, compromising users’ privacy.
Sharing an account from a conference in Barcelona, where he was one of the keynote speakers, Rehman said that an Israeli company had introduced a sotware called Pegasus that can “hack a phone within a minute.”
He said that PTA enforced all provisions of the licence for telecom operators, except the provision of legal interception.
Justice Satar then asked whether the PTA was saying that audio recording or phone tapping was being done illegally, and quizzed the counsel for telecom operators on whether there was a mechanism for legal interception.
The counsel replied that PTA had installed a system, but it was at the disposal of the federal government.
He explained that legal interception does not pertain to cellular services, as it is the domain of the PTA, federal government and relevant agency.
The judge then asked which agency is empowered to issue orders for phone tapping. The counsel replied that telecom operators don’t know about this and they act only in accordance with the direction issued by the PTA.
Justice Satar pointed out that telecom operators share the individuals’ locations with law enforcement agencies, whereas, under an agreement with consumers, they are under obligation to keep their personal information confidential.
He then asked under which law they share information relating to a consumer with the relevant agencies.
The court directed the telecom operators to submit a detailed report by the next date of hearing.
Additional Atorney General Barrister Munawar Iqbal Duggal argued that the federal government had submited its report to the extent of petitioner former prime minister Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi and Najamus Saqib, son of former chief justice Saqib Nisar.