Security researchers have discovered a new exploit that allows iPhones, Macs, and Apple Watches to be infected with Pegasus spyware. Apple recommends updating devices with the new patch immediately.
Apple is recommending that all users immediately update their devices with the new patch after researchers found that Israeli spyware company NSO Group has developed a way to take control of almost any Mac, Apple Watch, or iPhone with the Pegasus spyware.
“It’s absolutely terrifying,” said John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at The Citizen Lab, who recently discovered the software exploit and notified Apple.
See also: Is your iPhone safe from Pegasus Spyware?
According to the researchers, the malware can take control of an Apple device by first sending a message via iMessage (the company's default messaging app). It then exploits a flaw in the way Apple processes images. This is a zero-click exploit and is extremely dangerous because it affects iPhones and other Apple devices without requiring any interaction from the victim (e.g. clicking a link or downloading a file).
Also, according to Scott-Railton, it's almost impossible for someone to know their device has been compromised. They just see a message, a GIF.
As is often the case with hacking by NSO Group, the exploit affecting Apple's iPhone, Apple Watch, and Mac is likely only being used on people targeted by the various governments using the Israeli company's spyware software.
See also: Snowden: “Those who fund the spyware industry should go to prison”
NSO Group makes surveillance and hacking software that it licenses to governments to spy on people’s computers and smartphones. For years, it has insisted that its flagship product, the Pegasus spyware, is a tool to stop terrorists and other criminals and that it only provides the technology to legitimate governments, in accordance with their own laws. It also insists that the spyware cannot be used to target Americans’ phones and that the company revokes its use from countries that misuse its products.
See also: NSO: Blocks more customers from using Pegasus software
But Citizen Lab, a cybersecurity research center at the University of Toronto, has repeatedly found Pegasus spyware in espionage campaigns against journalists and dissidents.
In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for the Israeli company said that “NSO Group will continue to provide intelligence and law enforcement agencies around the world with technologies to combat terrorism and crime.”
As we mentioned above, Pegasus is primarily used by governments to track specific individuals. Citizen Lab was able to identify the new exploit, which affects iPhones, Apple watches, and Macs, by examining the phone of a Saudi dissident.
“In this case, it is quite clear that this person was targeted because he was an activist and not for any other reason,” said an investigator.
Apple released a patch to fix the vulnerability discovered by Citizen Lab. However, it did not provide technical details and said that “this issue may have been exploited.”
Apple thanked the researchers for reporting the bug.
This is not the first time that Apple devices have been affected by NSO Group spyware.
Updating to the latest iOS or MacOS version will protect users from this new hack.
Source: NBC News
