Christian Carlos
NSO Technologies, better known as NSO Group, is responsible for developing the malicious software known as Pegasus, which is considered a weapon in Israel under Israeli policy. Using brute force, Pegasus is installed on a vulnerable iPhone to breach the device's security and read private content remotely without the iPhone user's authorization.
Pegasus, The Washington Post reported, was installed on the devices of 11 US diplomats based in Uganda and parts of eastern Africa.
For its part, NSO Group, which owns the spyware, said: "We have previously committed that once there is a suspicion that a customer is misusing technology sold by NSO, the company will investigate and terminate the contract if it is found to be true," in this case, the US government.
In the press release, Apple notes that it makes "the most secure mobile devices on the market and is constantly investing in strengthening the protection of its users' privacy and security."
Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering, said: “At Apple, we take any attacks on our users very seriously, and we are constantly working to strengthen security and privacy protections in iOS to keep all of our users safe.”
Recently, Apple sued NSO Group for breaching user security and is seeking to hold it liable for any damages suffered by those targeted. According to Apple’s press release issued on November 23, 2021, “NSO Group creates sophisticated state-sponsored surveillance technology that enables its highly targeted spyware to monitor its victims. These attacks target only a very small number of users, and affect people across multiple platforms, including iOS and Android. Researchers and journalists have publicly documented a history of abuse of this spyware to target journalists, activists, dissidents, academics, and government officials.”
Apple has therefore asked users, as usual, to keep their phones with automatic updates activated, since, it said, no evidence of attacks has been found in iOS 15 and later versions.
The lawsuit, Apple explains, seeks "redress for NSO Group's egregious violations of U.S. federal and state laws arising from its efforts to attack Apple and its users."
To bolster efforts like these, “Apple will contribute $10 million, as well as damages arising from the lawsuit, to organizations engaged in cyber surveillance research and advocacy.”
Now, whenever Apple discovers activity consistent with a state-sponsored spyware attack, Apple will send one to affected users in accordance with industry best practices.
