An interesting and concerning security in the news this week. It has been alleged that Israelli Cyber Surveillance Company, NSO’s software has been used by governments to spy on journalists, activists and other governments – with claims Morocco used it to spy on France’s President Macron. The spyware can be installed on Android and Apple devices. The spyware, called Pegasus, turns a device into a surveillance device. It can be installed via ‘zero click’ attacks, wirelessly from a transponder or plain old manually if physical access to a target is possible.
This has caused outrage throughout Europe and around the world, with calls for moratoriums to be placed on exporting of spyware and offensive cyber products.
Although there is no evidence that Australia uses Pegasus, this has led to calls on the Australian government to declare it’s use of spyware in intelligence gathering.
What is a zero click attack?
A zero click attack is a method of installing spyware without the user clicking a link. These exploit O-day vulnerabilities such as one in WhatsApp in 2019 and NSO claims to be exploiting them in Apple iMessage. The Amnesty International report indicates that NSO treats Apple zero-click vulnerabilities as a moving target, moving from Apple music, to photo streams, to iMessage. That’s correct, this is the third time they have hacked Apple.
Reflection
This is concerning, especially in light of my other findings this week in regard to the government’s desire to surveil us. The ability of NSO to identify and exploit Apple vulnerabilities so quickly after patches makes me wonder if they have an insider at Apple?
References:
https://9to5mac.com/2021/07/19/zero-click-imessage-exploit/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/07/18/reactions-pegasus-project-nso/
