The apple company, Apple, has recently updated its software for iPhone because a spyware threat has been detected, that is, that a spy program enters your phone. The Israeli company NSO Group is believed to be behind the malware.
The urgent update was published last Monday and it solves a bug that was occurring in iMessage and that allowed hackers to enter the phone without the user having to click on any link .
The latest vulnerability detected reportedly allowed surveillance by a Saudi activist. The spyware has been in operation since February and would have been used to deploy Pegasus , the spy program created by the NSO Group, which has allegedly also been used to monitor journalists and human rights activists in many countries . According to CNN , in 2019 analysts from the Toronto Citizen Lab alleged that Pegasus spied on the cell phone of the wife of a Mexican journalist who was murdered.
According to Apple’s Director of Security Engineering and Architecture, Ivan Krstić, the breach “is not a threat to the vast majority of our users .” “Attacks like the ones described are highly sophisticated, cost millions of dollars to develop, often have a short lifespan and are used to target specific people,” Krstić told CNN .
The Israeli company has denied its involvement in the malicious software that has compromised the security of Apple phones. It defends that its software is only sold to authorized customers for anti-terrorism and law enforcement purposes. In a statement issued immediately after the allegations, he said: “NSO Group will continue to provide intelligence and law enforcement agencies around the world with life-saving technologies to combat terrorism and crime.”
In 2019, Facebook sued the company for being an accessory to the hacking of 1,400 mobile devices that used WhatsApp. NSO Group denied those allegations.
The UN recently called for a moratorium on the sale of spyware tools until their use “complies with international human rights standards.
