“We believe that the FORCED ENTRY exploit has been in use by NSO Group since at least February 2021. “Attacks like the ones described are highly sophisticated, cost millions of dollars to develop, often have a short shelf life, and are used to target specific individuals.”Ĭitizen Lab researcher John Scott-Railton in a series of tweets explained how the Citizen Lab discovered the exploit.Marczak said: ![]() Hours after releasing the fix, Apple said it had “rapidly” developed the update following Citizen Lab’s discovery of the problem. “We determined that the mercenary spyware company NSO Group used the vulnerability to remotely exploit and infect the latest Apple devices with the Pegasus spyware.” ![]() The researchers have advised updating the operating systems on their Apple devices in order to avoid their smartphones and laptops getting affected till the update rolled out by Apple on Monday is installed. "This spyware can do everything an iPhone user can do on their device and more," noted John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at Citizen Lab.Days after heated controversy around the globe over Pegasus spyware allegedly tapping phones of human rights activists, journalists and even heads of state, Apple has detected a new zero-day, zero-click exploit called ‘FORCEDENTRY’ in Apple’s iMessage service, allegedly used by Israel’s NSO Group to install Pegasus spyware in devices including the iPhone, iPad, MacBook and Apple Watch.Ī team of researchers at Toronto-based Citizen Lab, who have been investigating Pegasus Spyware, found the problem while analysing a Saudi activist’s phone that had been compromised with the code.Īccording to media reports, the cybersecurity watchdog organisation in Canada released a software update for a weakness that can let spyware infect devices without users even clicking on a malicious message or link. Pegasus spyware is believed to be used by mercenaries, criminals, and even governments to spy on targeted individuals. It can also record messages, calls, texts, emails, and even encrypted messages without tipping the victim off. ![]() It allows malicious attackers to secretly get into someone's device and turn the camera or microphone to spy on the user. Dubbed "zeroclick remote exploit," it is considered by security researchers as the Holy Grail of surveillance. The Pegasus spyware used a novel process to infect devices without the victim's knowledge. "Attacks like the ones described are highly sophisticated, cost millions of dollars to develop, often have a short shelf life, and are used to target specific individuals," Ivan Krstić, head of Apple security engineering and architecture, said in a statement. This is available for iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air, iPad mini 2, iPad mini 3 and the 6th generation iPod Touch.Īpple did not reveal details but this kind of vulnerability could be utilized to launch malicious actions such as leading users to phishing sites. To further highlight the seriousness of the security flaw, the tech giant also rolled out the iOS 12.5.2 patch for older devices. This update is extremely urgent because the security vulnerability is being actively exploited. The zero-day exploit, uncovered by security researchers at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab, impacts Apple's WebKit browser engine. Apple has released an emergency fix to software flaw targeted by the spyware at the heart of the Pegasus scandal AFP / JOEL SAGET
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