Researcher John Scott-Railton said the news highlights the importance of securing popular messaging apps against such attacks. It urged people to immediately install security updates. Those who want to jump the gun can go into the phone settings, click "General'' then "Software Update,'' and trigger the patch update directly.Ĭitizen Lab called the iMessage exploit FORCEDENTRY and said it was effective against Apple iOS, MacOS and WatchOS devices. Users should get alerts on their iPhones prompting them to update the phone's iOS software. Apple didn't respond to questions regarding whether this was the first time it had patched a zero-click vulnerability. In a subsequent statement, Apple security chief Ivan Krstic commended Citizen Lab and said such exploits "are not a threat to the overwhelming majority of our users.'' He noted, as he has in the past, that such exploits typically cost millions of dollars to develop and often have a short shelf life. It said it was aware that the issue may have been exploited and cited Citizen Lab. In a blog post, Apple said it was issuing a security update for iPhones and iPads because a "maliciously crafted'' PDF file could lead to them being hacked. ![]() He said the malicious file causes devices to crash.Ĭitizen Lab says the case reveals, once again, that NSO Group is allowing its spyware to be used against ordinary civilians. ![]() It was discovered during a second examination of the phone, which forensics showed had been infected in March. Malicious image files were transmitted to the activist's phone via the iMessage instant-messaging app before it was hacked with NSO's Pegasus spyware, which opens a phone to eavesdropping and remote data theft, Marczak said. Citizen Lab previously found evidence of zero-click exploits being used to hack into the phones of Al-Jazeera journalists and other targets, but hasn't previously seen the malicious code itself.Īlthough security experts say that average iPhone, iPad and Mac user generally need not worry, such attacks tend to be limited to specific targets, the discovery still alarmed security professionals. "We're not necessarily attributing this attack to the Saudi government,'' said researcher Bill Marczak.
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