Apple patches exploit attributed to hacker-for-hire firm
Apple released an emergency software patch to fix a security
vulnerability that researchers said could allow hackers to directly infect iPhones
and other Apple devices without any user action.
The researchers at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab
said the flaw allowed spyware from the world’s most infamous hacker-for-hire
firm, NSO Group, to directly infect the iPhone of a Saudi activist.
The flaw affected all Apple’s operating systems, the
researchers said.
It was the first time a so-called “zero-click” exploit had
been caught and analyzed, said the researchers, who found the malicious code on
Sept. 7 and immediately alerted Apple. They said they had high confidence the
Israeli company NSO Group was behind the attack, adding that the targeted
activist asked to remain anonymous.
“We’re not necessarily attributing this attack to the Saudi
government,” said researcher Bill Marczak.
Although Citizen Lab previously found evidence of zero-click
exploits being used to hack into the phones of al-Jazeera journalists and other
targets, “this is the first one where the exploit has been captured so we can
find out how it works,” said Marczak.
Although security experts say that average iPhone, iPad and
Mac user generally need not worry — such attacks tend to be highly targeted —
the discovery still alarmed security professionals.
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. It was discovered during a second examination of the phone, which
forensics showed had been infected in March. He said the malicious file causes
devices to crash.
NSO Group did not immediately respond to an email seeking
comment.
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. It said it was aware that the issue may have been exploited
and cited Citizen Lab. Apple didn’t immediately respond to questions regarding
whether this was the first time it had patched a zero-click.
Citizen Lab called the iMessage exploit FORCEDENTRY and said
it was effective against Apple iOS, MacOS and WatchOS devices.
Researcher John Scott-Railton said the news highlights the
importance of securing popular messaging apps against such attacks. “Chat apps
are increasingly becoming a major way that nation-states and mercenary hackers
are gaining access to phones,” he said. “And it’s why it’s so important that
companies focus on making sure that they are as locked down as possible.”
The researchers said it also exposes — again — that NSO’s
business model involves selling spyware to governments that will abuse it, not
just to law enforcement officials chasing cyber criminals and terrorists, as
NSO claims.
“If Pegasus was only being used against criminals and
terrorists, we never would have found this stuff,” said Marczak.
Facebook’s WhatsApp was also allegedly targeted by an NSO
zero-click exploit In October 2019, Facebook sued NSO in U.S. federal court for
allegedly targeting some 1,400 users of the encrypted messaging service with
spyware.
In July, a global media consortium published a damning
report on how clients of NSO Group have been spying for years on journalists,
human rights activists, political dissidents — and people close to them, with
the hacker-for-hire group directly involved in the targeting.
Amnesty International said it confirmed 37 successful
Pegasus infections based on a leaked targeting list whose origin was not
disclosed.
One involved the fiancee of Washington Post journalist Jamal
Khashoggi, just four days after he was killed in the Saudi Consulate in
Istanbul in 2018. The CIA attributed the murder to the Saudi government.
The recent revelations also prompted calls for an
investigation into whether Hungary’s right-wing government used Pegasus to
secretly monitor critical journalists, lawyers and business figures. India’s
parliament also erupted in protests as opposition lawmakers accused Prime
Minister Narendra Modi’s government of using NSO Groups’ product to spy on
political opponents and others.
France is also trying to get to the bottom of allegations
that President Emmanuel Macron and members of his government may have been
targeted in 2019 by an unidentified Moroccan security service using Pegasus.
Morocco, a key French ally, denied those reports and is taking legal action to
counter allegations implicating the North African kingdom in the spyware
scandal.
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