Apple Sues NSO Group For Hacking Into iPhones With 'Pegasus' Spyware

Apple has sued Israel's NSO group, which is behind the controversial spyware called Pegasus. In a blog post, Apple announced the lawsuit against NSO in hopes of holding "it accountable for the surveillance and targeting of Apple users."

Apple has gone a step further. To prevent NSO from causing "further abuse," Apple is seeking a "permanent injunction" which would ban NSO from using any Apple software, device, or services.

ComputerWorld

NSO - A state-sponsored actor

¡°State-sponsored actors like the NSO Group spend millions of dollars on sophisticated surveillance technologies without effective accountability. That needs to change,¡± Craig Federighi, Apple¡¯s senior vice president of Software Engineering said in the post.

Federighi added that these threats only affect only a small number of their customers through NSO Group's "FORCEDENTRY" exploit, which exploited a now-patched vulnerability to break into an Apple user's phone to install Pegasus.

Apple

Also read: WhatsApp Can Now Sue NSO For Pegasus Hacking Into 1400 User Accounts In 2019

Initially, the exploit was discovered by Citizen Lab, a research group from the University of Toronto. A list of all targeted individuals in different countries was shared collectively by media houses around the globe earlier this year.

What can Pegasus do?

Pegasus can easily access the microphone, camera, and other data on Apple and Android devices. FORCEDENTRY was delivered to Apple devices by creating Apple IDs that sent dangerous data to a victim's iPhone. Owing to this, the spyware was installed without the victim's knowledge.

Reuters

Also read: How To Find Pegasus Spyware On Your iPhone: Step By Step Guide

The spyware has reportedly been used in countries across the globe including India to snoop on government officials, opposition leaders, activists, and journalists. Earlier, NSO had claimed that it only sells its Pegasus spyware to elected governments across the globe.

What do you think - should governments be allowed to spy on their citizens through such invasive software? Let us know in the comments below.

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Citation

Apple. (2021, November 23). Apple sues NSO Group to curb the abuse of state-sponsored spyware. Apple Newsroom.