Researchers at Citizen Lab, a digital watchdog group, have discovered a new vulnerability in Apple devices that was exploited by spyware linked to the Israeli firm NSO. According to Citizen Lab, this flaw allowed the NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware to infect an Apple device belonging to an employee of a Washington-based civil society group.
Bill Marczak, a senior researcher at Citizen Lab, stated that they have a high level of confidence in attributing the exploit to NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware based on forensics from the targeted device. The spyware was discovered because the attacker apparently made an installation error.
Citizen Lab noted that Apple confirmed that using the high-security feature “Lockdown Mode” on Apple devices can block this specific attack. John Scott-Railton, another senior researcher at Citizen Lab, emphasized that civil society often serves as an early warning system for detecting sophisticated attacks.
Details about the affected individual and organization were not disclosed by Citizen Lab. The vulnerability allowed attackers to compromise iPhones running the latest iOS version (16.6) without any interaction from the device’s owner. However, Apple has released new updates to address this vulnerability.
An Apple spokesperson declined to provide additional comments, but Citizen Lab urged consumers to update their devices for security. NSO Group responded to the allegations by stating that they cannot respond without supporting research.
It’s worth noting that NSO Group has been blacklisted by the US government since 2021 due to allegations of abuses, including the surveillance of government officials and journalists.
