Apple releases update against Pegasus spyware

Apple has 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, Report informs referring to the Daily Mail.

The exploit was captured by spyware researchers at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab.

Citizen Lab called the iMessage exploit FORCEDENTRY and said it was effective against Apple iOS, MacOS and WatchOS devices.

That process name was used in an attack with NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware on an Al Jazeera journalist in July 2020.

Pegasus spyware was developed by the Israeli company NSO Group. Earlier it was reported that with the company’s help the phones of politicians and journalists around the world were hacked. The malicious software had access to location, passwords, stored credentials, the camera and microphone of electronic devices. It is believed that Pegasus exploited the vulnerability found in the iPhone and secretly compromised the devices.

The infection was discovered after one of the journalists, Tamer Almisshal, suspected that his phone had been hacked and asked Citizen Lab researchers to investigate the case. Citing evidence from similar attacks involving Pegasus, Citizen Lab said the bulk of the hacks were carried out by NSO clients, including the governments of Saudi Arabia and the UAE.