09/14/2021

Pegasus Spyware: Apple's iPhone Fix and Everything You Need to Know

Governments are angry over software targeting activists, journalists and executives

It's a doozy of a digital spying case. Security researchers have found evidence of attempted or successful installations of Pegasus, software made by Israel-based cybersecurity company NSO Group, on 37 phones of activists, journalists and businesspeople. The targets appear to have been targets of secret surveillance by software that's intended to help governments pursue criminals and terrorists.

Pegasus has been a politically explosive issue that's put Israel under pressure from activists and from governments worried about misuse of the software. France and the United States have raised concerns, and NSO has suspended some countries' Pegasus privileges.

It hasn't helped Apple's reputation as a trustworthy technology supplier, either. On Monday, though, Apple fixed a security hole that Pegasus exploited for installation on iPhones, The New York Times reported and Apple confirmed. Malware often uses collections of such vulnerabilities to gain a foothold on a device and then expand privileges to become more powerful. NSO Group's software also runs on Android phones.

Please select this link to read the complete article from C|Net.