Have you heard about the latest news? Apple’s iPhones have been hacked! That’s right folks, even your beloved iPhones are not safe from the malicious intent of hackers. According to Citizen Lab, who are clearly better at tech than NSO, the attacks targeted iOS 15 and early versions of iOS 16 operating software. But don’t worry, Apple has now fixed the flaws that NSO exploited. Guess they were just not as tech-savvy as Citizen Lab.
Who were the targets of these attacks, you ask? Well, it’s a varied bunch – human rights activists, suspected military abuses, government responses, and a major buyer of NSO, Mexico. Not surprising, right? It seems like NSO’s core business is making spyware to penetrate iPhones. They just can’t help themselves.
One of the attacks even coincided with a report by international experts challenging the government’s evidence in a 2015 case involving the mass kidnapping of 43 student protesters in Mexico. Talk about bad timing, NSO. Citizen Lab found multiple NSO hacking methods in past years while examining the phones of likely targets, including human rights workers and journalists. Looks like NSO needs to brush up on their hacking skills if they want to keep up with Citizen Lab.
NSO may be a big shot in the hacking world, but even they have their limitations. Bill Marczak, a senior researcher at Citizen Lab, said that given their financial and legal fights, it’s an open question how long NSO can keep finding or buying new exploits. Looks like they might be running out of tricks up their sleeves. It’s just a matter of time before Citizen Lab finds them out.
NSO spokesman Liron Bruck declined to say whether the company was behind the hacks or whether it had more effective attacks. He even faulted Citizen Lab for not disclosing its underlying data. Come on, NSO, don’t be a sore loser. If you want to play the game of hacking, you need to learn how to lose gracefully.
It’s unclear how many people were affected by the newly discovered NSO methods, but Apple assured us that only a very small number of their customers were affected. Phew, that’s a relief. Plus, some of the most recent attacks failed against users who activated Lockdown Mode – a feature that blocks communications from unknown callers and reduces the number of programs that are automatically invoked. Looks like we finally have a weapon to fight back against those pesky hackers.
So, folks, the bottom line is to always stay vigilant and keep your iPhones up-to-date with the latest software patch. And if you’re a likely target of NSO, activate Lockdown Mode. Who knows, maybe Citizen Lab will find a way to hack the hackers next time.
Serious News: washingtonpost
