Apple has issued a security update to prevent spyware that exploits flaws in the company’s mobile operating system that could give hackers control of iPhones.
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NSO Group didn’t deny its involvement, stating that its mission was to provide “authorised governments with technology that helps them combat terror and crime”.
“We’ve never seen a remote jailbreak vulnerability in the wild before”, Lookout representative Heather MacKinnon said. They made an alarming discovery: the message link had the power to turn the iPhone into a sophisticated spying tool, using the camera and microphone on Mansour’s phone to record his conversations, track his movements, and monitor his messages.
The update patches several critical zero-day exploits that have apparently already been deployed, allegedly by foreign governments to target activists and dissidents, according to a report from Citizen Lab and Lookout Security. This month, he received e-mails and messages purporting to contain details about prisoners being tortured in UAE jails. NSO Group is reportedly owned by an American venture capital firm, Francisco Partners Management. Your device will then automatically check for the latest version of iOS.
Apple Inc. issued a fix for the vulnerabilities Thursday, just ahead of the reports’ release, working at a blistering pace for which the Cupertino, California-based company was widely praised.
Mansoor sent Citizen Lab the original messages that included all of the malicious and infected links.
The company said it had no knowledge of any particular incidents.
In a statement to USA TODAY, Apple said it immediately fixed the vulnerability upon learning of it.
Mansoor realized he was being targeted with Pegasus after receiving a suspicious link.If clicked, the link would have installed the NSO software onto his iPhone 6, enabling tracking and surveillance.
Apple is sending the update 9.3.5 wirelessly, but iPhone users can access Settings General Software Update to see if the software is available and install the update manually.
The latest iOS version, 9.3.5, is meant to fix three security vulnerabilities in Apple products, the New York Times reported.
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Mansoor, who has been imprisoned, beaten, robbed and had his passport confiscated by authorities over the years, also had repeatedly found himself in the crosshairs of electronic eavesdropping operations, including two previous spyware attacks.
