from the is-it-enforceable-outside-the-USA? dept.
Apple sues company known for hacking iPhones on behalf of governments
Apple on Tuesday sued NSO Group, an Israeli firm that sells software to government agencies and law enforcement that enables them to hack iPhones and read the data on them, including messages and other communications:
Earlier this year, Amnesty International said it discovered recent-model iPhones belonging to journalists and human rights lawyers that had been infected with NSO Group malware called Pegasus.
Apple is seeking a permanent injunction to ban NSO Group from using Apple software, services, or devices. It's also seeking damages over $75,000.
[...] NSO Group software permits "attacks, including from sovereign governments that pay hundreds of millions of dollars to target and attack a tiny fraction of users with information of particular interest to NSO's customers," Apple said in the lawsuit filed in federal court in the Northern District of California, saying that it is not "ordinary consumer malware."
Also at The Guardian.
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Despite confirming its purchase, the bureau claims Pegasus was never used in any FBI investigation:
According to the report, the deal struck between the FBI and NSO was a one-year test project worth around $5 million. Despite "not using it at all... like, not even switching it on," according to a source, the FBI renewed the contract for another year, bringing the deal up to $9 million.
The deal was agreed upon following a "long process" of disagreements on how much control NSO Group would retain over its software, a source told The Guardian. The FBI reportedly took issue with NSO's policy of keeping sensors on its technology in order to be alerted if it was moved by a government client and to keep track of its physical location.
In addition, the bureau was reportedly wary of allowing NSO engineers to install Pegasus on FBI computers, instead agreeing to keep the spyware in a large container.
The FBI stated it bought access to NSO's spyware in order to "stay abreast of emerging technologies and tradecraft."
Previously on SN:
- Researchers Call NSO Zero-Click iPhone Exploit "Incredible and Terrifying"
- American Diplomats' iPhones Reportedly Compromised by NSO Group Intrusion Software
- Apple Sues NSO Group for Providing Software to Hack iPhones
- U.S. Places Sanctions on NSO Group, Peddler of Pegasus Spyware
The Battle for the World's Most Powerful Cyberweapon [Ed's Comment: If paywalled try https://archive.fo/cbnUR]
In June 2019, three Israeli computer engineers arrived at a New Jersey building used by the F.B.I. They unpacked dozens of computer servers, arranging them on tall racks in an isolated room. As they set up the equipment, the engineers made a series of calls to their bosses in Herzliya, a Tel Aviv suburb, at the headquarters for NSO Group, the world's most notorious maker of spyware. Then, with their equipment in place, they began testing.
The F.B.I. had bought a version of Pegasus, NSO's premier spying tool. For nearly a decade, the Israeli firm had been selling its surveillance software on a subscription basis to law-enforcement and intelligence agencies around the world, promising that it could do what no one else — not a private company, not even a state intelligence service — could do: consistently and reliably crack the encrypted communications of any iPhone or Android smartphone.
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Wednesday November 24 2021, @06:13PM (8 children)
Why only $75k? That's peanuts. Shouldn't Apple try to sue them into oblivion?
(Score: 3, Touché) by TrentDavey on Wednesday November 24 2021, @06:42PM (6 children)
They don't need the money - they need the headline.
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Wednesday November 24 2021, @07:07PM (3 children)
The money is about burying NSO Group. This looks weak.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Wednesday November 24 2021, @07:12PM (2 children)
Mabye they want to buy NSO Group. That's usually the best way to deal with a perceived threat to their business
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 24 2021, @08:17PM (1 child)
Maybe they should outcompete instead. Add some backdoors and sell them cheap.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Wednesday November 24 2021, @08:37PM
No reason to doubt they are already doing that.
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday November 24 2021, @07:39PM (1 child)
That and the precedent.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 24 2021, @08:25PM
What about him?
(Score: 2) by EvilSS on Wednesday November 24 2021, @10:18PM
\/\/\/\/ Insert stuff about first-sale doctrine and right to repair below this comment \/\/\/\/
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 24 2021, @06:47PM (1 child)
I just want to get laid.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 25 2021, @06:28AM
Climb up a chicken's ass and wait.
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 24 2021, @06:59PM (3 children)
Well I'm proud to be an American,
Because at least I know I'm free,
I could blow my brains out,
and end up on TV!
(Score: 3, Touché) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday November 24 2021, @07:41PM (2 children)
Proud to be an American...
'Cause at least I know I'm free...
And those programmers who are Israeli...
Can go fuck themselves
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 24 2021, @08:25PM (1 child)
We will watch your career with great interest
(Score: 3, Funny) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday November 24 2021, @08:39PM
I'm a poet and I didn't even comprehend that fact.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 24 2021, @10:42PM
The solution to Apple's products being insecure is not to sue those that exploit the insecure nature of their products. It's to fix their products to make them secure.
(Score: 2) by SomeGuy on Thursday November 25 2021, @12:11AM
Fuck iPhones.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 25 2021, @03:14AM
The jews would not be a problem for humans today if the marxists had not won the war.
Send them back to the work camps so they can do some useful work without hurting humans. They would still conspire while in work camps but with advanced surveillance technology, their nefarious plots would amount to nothing.