Raphael Mtui
Senior Member
- Nov 26, 2024
- 134
- 293
Wakuu, katika makala yangu iliyopita tuliyojadili kuhusu programu hatari ya udukuzi kutoka Israeli iitwayo Pegasus, niligusia tukio hili kwa kulitaja tu, maana mwishoni mwa makala ile nilitaja wakuu wa nchi mbalimbali waliowahi kudukuliwa na programu hii.
Kama nilivyosema, mnamo mwaka 2021, ulimwengu ulitikiswa vibaya mno na ripoti ya "Pegasus Project", uchunguzi wa kimataifa uliofichua jinsi viongozi mbalimbali duniani walivyolengwa na programu ya udukuzi ya Pegasus.
Miongoni mwa majina makubwa yaliyotajwa ni Rais wa Afrika Kusini, Cyril Ramaphosa, huku kidole cha lawama kikielekezwa kwa serikali ya Rwanda chini ya Rais Paul Kagame.
Wengi hapa wanaijua Pegasus: Pegasus ni programu ya kijasusi (spyware) iliyotengenezwa na kampuni ya Israel iitwayo NSO Group.
Programu hii inachukuliwa kuwa silaha ya hatari ya kidijitali katika ulimwengu wa leo.
NSO Group, ingawa ni kampuni ya watu binafsi wa Israeli, lakini huwa wanaiuza programu hii kwa serikali za nchi pekee (si watu binafsi), tena, kwa idhini ya Wizara ya Ulinzi ya Israel.
Lengo rasmi la programu hii ni kupambana dhidi ya ugaidi na uhalifu mkubwa.
Ingawa serikali ya Kigali imekuwa ikikanusha kumiliki teknolojia hiyo, ripoti za uchunguzi zinaonyesha kuwa Rwanda ilikuwa mmoja wa wateja wakuu wa NSO Group barani Afrika tangu mwaka 2016!
Inakadiriwa kuwa serikali hiyo ililipa mamilioni ya dola kupata leseni ya kutumia programu hiyo dhidi ya "maadui wa nchi."
Teknolojia ya Pegasus ni ya kipekee kwa sababu HAIHITAJI MLENGWA KUFANYA KOSA LOLOTE (KAMA KUBONYEZA 'LINK' YA AJABU). Inatumia mfumo unaoitwa "Zero-Click".
Udukuzi huo hufanyika kupitia upungufu wa usalama kwenye programu kama WhatsApp au iMessage. Mdukuzi hutuma ujumbe wa siri ambao hauhitaji kufunguliwa ili programu hii kuingia kwenye simu ya mlengwa.
Mara tu Pegasus inapoingia kwenye simu ya mlengwa, mdukuzi anapata uwezo wa:
Kwanza; kusoma jumbe zote (hata zile za siri/encrypted).
Pili; mdukuzi anaweza kufungua kamera na maikrofoni bila mwenye simu kujua. Kupitia kamera mdukuzi ataona visivyopaswa kuonwa, na kupitia maikrofoni atarekodi sauti ya mlengwa apendavyo.
Tatu; mdukuzi anaweza kufuatilia mahali mlengwa alipo (GPS) na kuiba picha na mawasiliano yote. (Simu zote na meseji zote husomwa na wanaomdukua).
Kwa Nini Ramaphosa Alilengwa? Kagame alikuwa anatafuta nini?
Wataalamu wa siasa za kijiografia na ujasusi wanataja sababu kadhaa ambazo zingemfanya Rais Kagame kuwa na maslahi ya kudukua mawasiliano ya mwenzake wa Afrika Kusini:
Kwanza: Ni kutokana na Mzozo wa Wahamiaji na Wapinzani. Kwa miaka mingi, Afrika Kusini imekuwa maficho ya wapinzani wakuu wa Kagame, akiwemo aliyekuwa mkuu wa ujasusi wa Rwanda, Kayumba Nyamwasa. Kigali imekuwa ikiituhumu Pretoria kwa kuwahifadhi watu inaowaona kama magaidi, huku Afrika Kusini ikiishutumu Rwanda kwa kutuma wauaji (assassins) kuwaua wapinzani hao kwenye ardhi yake.
Pili: Nguvu ya Kanda (Regional Power Struggle). Afrika Kusini na Rwanda mara nyingi zimekuwa na mitazamo tofauti kuhusu usalama wa Mashariki mwa DRC na Msumbiji. Kudukua simu ya Ramaphosa kungempa Kagame taarifa za siri kuhusu mipango ya kijeshi na kidiplomasia ya Afrika Kusini katika kanda hiyo.
Tatu: Kujua Mipango ya SADC. Kama kiongozi mwenye nguvu katika Jumuiya ya Maendeleo ya Kusini mwa Afrika (SADC), maamuzi ya Ramaphosa yana athari kubwa. Kagame angependa kujua misimamo ya siri ya SADC dhidi Rwanda.
SERIKALI YA RWANDA INASEMAJE KUHUSU TUHUMA HIZO?
Serikali ya Rwanda, kupitia Waziri wake wa Mambo ya Nje, ilikanusha vikali tuhuma hizo ikiziita "uongo na kampeni ya kuchafua jina la nchi." Rais Kagame mwenyewe, katika mahojiano, alicheka tuhuma hizo akisema teknolojia hiyo ni ya gharama kubwa sana na nchi yake ina vipaumbele vingine.
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Moja na nakala iliyowahi kuchapishwa na DW mwaka 2021
The Pegasus Project, an investigation by a consortium of international media and NGOs, has revealed how the Pegasus spyware of Israeli company NSO Group was abused by government clients to spy on journalists, activists and politicians.
The targets also include current and former presidents and prime ministers.
They appeared on a list of around 50,000 phone numbers that were apparently specified as belonging to persons of interest by NSO clients.
The leak showed that least seven African countries were among these clients, including Togo, Morocco and Rwanda.
Of these, Rwanda has reportedly been one of the more enthusiastic users of the Pegasus spyware, which can record phone calls and read texts and emails, access photographs and passwords, and secretly activate microphones and cameras to make audio and video recordings.
Rwanda denies using Pegasus software.
"These false accusations are part of an ongoing campaign to cause tensions between Rwanda and other countries, and to sow disinformation about Rwanda domestically and internationally," Rwanda's government said in a statement to the Pegasus Project team.
One name on the leaked list pinned to Rwanda stands out: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
On Wednesday, the South African government was quick to react to the news, announcing that it had tasked its intelligence agencies with investigating whether Ramaphosa's personal mobile phone was hacked.
"Of course, we will not be happy that we have been targeted because we believe that not only infringes on the privacy of the president but also infringes on the sovereignty of this country to make its own decisions without other countries trying to preempt those decisions and influence them and also try to undermine those decisions," acting Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni told reporters.
The government disapproved of "unacceptable means" rather than diplomatic channels to acquire information on South Africa, she said.
But cybersecurity expert Andy Mashaile was scathing in his criticism of South Africa's security precautions.
"Those who look after the president were supposed to have known," he told South Africa's national broadcaster, SABC, on Thursday.
Kama nilivyosema, mnamo mwaka 2021, ulimwengu ulitikiswa vibaya mno na ripoti ya "Pegasus Project", uchunguzi wa kimataifa uliofichua jinsi viongozi mbalimbali duniani walivyolengwa na programu ya udukuzi ya Pegasus.
Miongoni mwa majina makubwa yaliyotajwa ni Rais wa Afrika Kusini, Cyril Ramaphosa, huku kidole cha lawama kikielekezwa kwa serikali ya Rwanda chini ya Rais Paul Kagame.
Wengi hapa wanaijua Pegasus: Pegasus ni programu ya kijasusi (spyware) iliyotengenezwa na kampuni ya Israel iitwayo NSO Group.
Programu hii inachukuliwa kuwa silaha ya hatari ya kidijitali katika ulimwengu wa leo.
NSO Group, ingawa ni kampuni ya watu binafsi wa Israeli, lakini huwa wanaiuza programu hii kwa serikali za nchi pekee (si watu binafsi), tena, kwa idhini ya Wizara ya Ulinzi ya Israel.
Lengo rasmi la programu hii ni kupambana dhidi ya ugaidi na uhalifu mkubwa.
Ingawa serikali ya Kigali imekuwa ikikanusha kumiliki teknolojia hiyo, ripoti za uchunguzi zinaonyesha kuwa Rwanda ilikuwa mmoja wa wateja wakuu wa NSO Group barani Afrika tangu mwaka 2016!
Inakadiriwa kuwa serikali hiyo ililipa mamilioni ya dola kupata leseni ya kutumia programu hiyo dhidi ya "maadui wa nchi."
Teknolojia ya Pegasus ni ya kipekee kwa sababu HAIHITAJI MLENGWA KUFANYA KOSA LOLOTE (KAMA KUBONYEZA 'LINK' YA AJABU). Inatumia mfumo unaoitwa "Zero-Click".
Udukuzi huo hufanyika kupitia upungufu wa usalama kwenye programu kama WhatsApp au iMessage. Mdukuzi hutuma ujumbe wa siri ambao hauhitaji kufunguliwa ili programu hii kuingia kwenye simu ya mlengwa.
Mara tu Pegasus inapoingia kwenye simu ya mlengwa, mdukuzi anapata uwezo wa:
Kwanza; kusoma jumbe zote (hata zile za siri/encrypted).
Pili; mdukuzi anaweza kufungua kamera na maikrofoni bila mwenye simu kujua. Kupitia kamera mdukuzi ataona visivyopaswa kuonwa, na kupitia maikrofoni atarekodi sauti ya mlengwa apendavyo.
Tatu; mdukuzi anaweza kufuatilia mahali mlengwa alipo (GPS) na kuiba picha na mawasiliano yote. (Simu zote na meseji zote husomwa na wanaomdukua).
Kwa Nini Ramaphosa Alilengwa? Kagame alikuwa anatafuta nini?
Wataalamu wa siasa za kijiografia na ujasusi wanataja sababu kadhaa ambazo zingemfanya Rais Kagame kuwa na maslahi ya kudukua mawasiliano ya mwenzake wa Afrika Kusini:
Kwanza: Ni kutokana na Mzozo wa Wahamiaji na Wapinzani. Kwa miaka mingi, Afrika Kusini imekuwa maficho ya wapinzani wakuu wa Kagame, akiwemo aliyekuwa mkuu wa ujasusi wa Rwanda, Kayumba Nyamwasa. Kigali imekuwa ikiituhumu Pretoria kwa kuwahifadhi watu inaowaona kama magaidi, huku Afrika Kusini ikiishutumu Rwanda kwa kutuma wauaji (assassins) kuwaua wapinzani hao kwenye ardhi yake.
Pili: Nguvu ya Kanda (Regional Power Struggle). Afrika Kusini na Rwanda mara nyingi zimekuwa na mitazamo tofauti kuhusu usalama wa Mashariki mwa DRC na Msumbiji. Kudukua simu ya Ramaphosa kungempa Kagame taarifa za siri kuhusu mipango ya kijeshi na kidiplomasia ya Afrika Kusini katika kanda hiyo.
Tatu: Kujua Mipango ya SADC. Kama kiongozi mwenye nguvu katika Jumuiya ya Maendeleo ya Kusini mwa Afrika (SADC), maamuzi ya Ramaphosa yana athari kubwa. Kagame angependa kujua misimamo ya siri ya SADC dhidi Rwanda.
SERIKALI YA RWANDA INASEMAJE KUHUSU TUHUMA HIZO?
Serikali ya Rwanda, kupitia Waziri wake wa Mambo ya Nje, ilikanusha vikali tuhuma hizo ikiziita "uongo na kampeni ya kuchafua jina la nchi." Rais Kagame mwenyewe, katika mahojiano, alicheka tuhuma hizo akisema teknolojia hiyo ni ya gharama kubwa sana na nchi yake ina vipaumbele vingine.
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Moja na nakala iliyowahi kuchapishwa na DW mwaka 2021
South Africa's Ramaphosa listed as Rwanda spyware target
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has shown up as a target of potential surveillance by Rwanda in the Pegasus spyware case. Given the two countries' difficult relationship, this isn't a surprise.The Pegasus Project, an investigation by a consortium of international media and NGOs, has revealed how the Pegasus spyware of Israeli company NSO Group was abused by government clients to spy on journalists, activists and politicians.
The targets also include current and former presidents and prime ministers.
They appeared on a list of around 50,000 phone numbers that were apparently specified as belonging to persons of interest by NSO clients.
The leak showed that least seven African countries were among these clients, including Togo, Morocco and Rwanda.
Of these, Rwanda has reportedly been one of the more enthusiastic users of the Pegasus spyware, which can record phone calls and read texts and emails, access photographs and passwords, and secretly activate microphones and cameras to make audio and video recordings.
Rwanda's targets for cyberspying
The government of President Paul Kagama had apparently put more than 3,500 phone numbers on the list since 2016, according to the leak.Rwanda denies using Pegasus software.
"These false accusations are part of an ongoing campaign to cause tensions between Rwanda and other countries, and to sow disinformation about Rwanda domestically and internationally," Rwanda's government said in a statement to the Pegasus Project team.
One name on the leaked list pinned to Rwanda stands out: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
On Wednesday, the South African government was quick to react to the news, announcing that it had tasked its intelligence agencies with investigating whether Ramaphosa's personal mobile phone was hacked.
"Of course, we will not be happy that we have been targeted because we believe that not only infringes on the privacy of the president but also infringes on the sovereignty of this country to make its own decisions without other countries trying to preempt those decisions and influence them and also try to undermine those decisions," acting Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni told reporters.
The government disapproved of "unacceptable means" rather than diplomatic channels to acquire information on South Africa, she said.
But cybersecurity expert Andy Mashaile was scathing in his criticism of South Africa's security precautions.
"Those who look after the president were supposed to have known," he told South Africa's national broadcaster, SABC, on Thursday.
