SC’s Pegasus probe panel has experts in digital forensics, malware detection

The Supreme Court appointed a panel of cyber experts comprising Naveen Kumar Chaudhary, Prabaharan P and Ashwin Anil Gumaste to probe into the alleged use of Israeli spyware Pegasus for surveillance of politicians, journalists and activists

The Supreme Court on Wednesday appointed a panel of cyber experts comprising Naveen Kumar Chaudhary, Prabaharan P and Ashwin Anil Gumaste to probe into the alleged use of Israeli spyware Pegasus for surveillance of politicians, journalists, and activists.

The Indian Supreme Court’s Pegasus crisis probe panel has experts in digital forensics and malware detection. (Shutterstock/File)

Former Supreme Court judge RV Raveendran will oversee the functioning of the panel.

Naveen Kumar Chaudhary is a professor of cyber security and digital forensics at Gujarat’s National Forensic Sciences University. He also specialises in e-governance, network security, and communication engineering. Chaudhary is a member of a University Grants Commission body that is developing an ecosystem for cyber security at the country’s higher education institutions.

Prabaharan P is a professor at Kerala’s Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham. With over two decades of experience in computer science and security areas, Prabaharan’s expertise includes malware detection, critical infrastructural security, complex binary analysis, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.

Prabaharan was given the Defence Research and Development Organisation’s Academy Excellence Award in 2018 for research.

Ashwin Anil Gumaste of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay specialises in optical networks, broadband networks, access networks, dynamic optical networks, and other related technologies. He is the recipient of the 2018 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for science and technology.

Former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Alok Joshi and Sundeep Oberoi, chairman of a subcommittee at the International Organisation of Standardisation, will assist Raveendran in overseeing the panel’s work.