Although Apple did manage to get a security patch out, blocking the malware, it is sort of scary to see how easy it was for NSO to get into the iPhone and take full control of the device. The term “zero-day” simply describes a weak spot in a piece of software that had been previously unknown to the authorities, so to have a piece of software that used not one, but three of these was surprising. It’s not because they are rare themselves, but the Android market is so big it’s an easier target for hackers.
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“It is the most sophisticated spyware package we’ve seen”, said Lookout.
(NATIONAL) – Motherboard.com, a well known tech-oriented website explained it this way: earlier this month a man named Ahmed Mansoor, a 46-year-old human rights activist from the United Arab Emirates, got “a odd text message from a number he did not recognize on his iPhone”.
The flaws were discovered by two security firms, Citizen Lab and Lookout, who said the texts contained links which, if tapped, would have jailbroken the phone.
Apple has issued a security update to fix vulnerabilities found after spyware created by an Israeli firm was used to target an Emirati dissident. “It would have been capable of employing his iPhone camera and microphone to snoop on activity in the vicinity of the device, recording his WhatsApp and Viber calls, logging messages sent in mobile chat apps, and tracking his movements”.
The NSO Group tactics included impersonating sites such as the International Committee for the Red Cross; the British government’s visa application processing website, and a wide range of news organizations and major technology companies, according to researchers.
The flaws have been fixed in iOS 9.3.5 and CitizenLab has published a breakdown of the vulnerabilities to coincide with the security patch. Because there are fewer devices and they all run the same core software, Apple can test and deploy security updates quickly and easily with fewer chances of something going wrong.
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“The use of such expensive tools against Mansoor shows the lengths that governments are willing to go to target activists”, researchers said. The risk to everyday users may have been minimal as the NSO Group says it sells its spyware only to governments.
