SoylentNews

upstart [soylentnews.org] writes:

████ # This file was generated bot-o-matically! Edit at your own risk. ████

Researchers call NSO zero-click iPhone exploit 'incredible and terrifying' [engadget.com]:

Google researchers have described NSO Group's zero-click exploit used to hack Apple devices [engadget.com] as "incredible and terrifying," Wired [wired.com] has reported. Project Zero researchers called it "one of the most technically sophisticated exploits we've ever seen" that's on par with attacks from elite nation-state spies.

The Project Zero team said it obtained one of NSO's Pegasus exploits from Citizen Lab, which managed to capture it via a targeted Saudi activist. It also worked with Apple's Security Engineering and Architecture (SEAR) group on the technical analysis.

NSO's original exploit required the user to click on a link, but the latest, most sophisticated exploits require no click at all. Called ForcedEntry, it takes advantage of the way iMessage interprets files like GIFs to open a malicious PDF file with no action required from the victim. It does so by using old code from the 1990s used to process text in scanner images.

Once inside a device, the malware can set up its own virtualized environment and run javascript-like code, with no need to connect to an outside server. From there, it gives an attacker access to a victim's passwords, microphone, audio and more. The exploit is extremely hard to detect and is "a weapon against which there is no defense," Project Zero researchers said.

Apple recently filed a lawsuit [engadget.com] against the group to "hold it accountable" for governments using it to spy on iOS users. Apple alleged that targets are often activists, journalists [engadget.com] and other critics [citizenlab.ca] of regimes that routinely suppress political dissent. It also accused NSO of "flagrant violations" of federal- and state-level laws in the US. Last month, the US Department of Commerce added NSO Group [engadget.com] to its "entity list", essentially banning it for use in the US.

Original Submission