Apple is coming with an urgent software update that should fix a critical vulnerability in the iOS operating system.
An Israeli cyber-espionage company has developed a tool, Pegasus, that allows them to hack Apple products using an unprecedented technique.
The vulnerability has been exploited since February this year, Citizen Lab, a cybersecurity watchdog that uncovered the hacking, said Monday. In addition, citizen Lab had discovered that a Saudi activist’s iPhone had been infected with the spyware for more than six months.
The hacking method is unprecedented, as devices get infected without users clicking on untrustworthy or fraudulent links.
The Israeli NSO Group uses a security flaw in the Apple messaging app iMessage for the hack. As a result, Pegasus can, among other things, enable a user’s camera and microphone, record messages, emails and conversations and even send messages back to NSO customers via encrypted messaging apps.
On Monday, Apple will release an urgent update that will close the leak in the iMessage software. In addition, spyware barriers will be added in the next iOS 15 software update.
