Apple files a complaint against NSO, the creator of the Pegasus spyware | MacGeneration

Apple goes hard against NSO. The manufacturer announces the filing of a complaint against the Israeli company behind the Pegasus spyware. This one made headlines again this summer, after disturbing new surveillance cases were uncovered.

Pegasus spy malware is still more effective and used

At the time, Apple gave the impression of minimizing this threat, explaining that the cookie only targeted “very specific people” – in this case journalists, opponents of the regimes in place, human rights activists , and even politicians (including Emmanuel Macron!). But the manufacturer's responsibility was still engaged, since Pegasus exploits flaws in iOS to break into the victims' iPhones.

This time, Apple is taking the bull by the horns with this complaint to hold NSO "accountable for monitoring and targeting" its users. Apple is also seeking a permanent injunction to ban NSO from using Apple software, services and devices.

Fear must now change sides, essentially summarizes Craig Federighi in the press release. “State-funded malicious actors like the NSO Group spend millions of dollars on sophisticated surveillance technologies with no actual accountability. This must change, ”says the vice-president of software technologies. He reminds that Apple is constantly working to improve and strengthen the security and privacy of users in iOS.

Apple will also support groups such as Citizen Lab and Amnesty Tech, which are at the forefront of the fight against these surveillance methods: a contribution of 10 million dollars will be paid to them, and the manufacturer also undertakes to pay these organizations the damages it may receive from NSO following the legal proceedings. Finally, Apple will technically support researchers from Citizen Lab and all other organizations working on the subject.

The complaint comes with new information about FORCEDENTRY, a security vulnerability exploited by NSO — now patched — to break into iPhones to install the latest version of Pegasus. Vulnerability had been talked about at the end of August.

iOS 15: in Messages, additional protection against the Pegasus malware

The hackers created Apple IDs to send malicious messages to their victims' devices, allowing them to use the flaw, of course without the user's consent. Apple's servers were not hacked or compromised in these attacks. Apple will contact the victims of NSO.

Although NSO's monitoring tools continue to improve, Apple has not observed any successful Pegasus attack attempts on devices running iOS 15.