Tag: spyware

US bans agencies from buying spyware from blacklisted companies after 50 US govt employees hit

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

US President Joseph Biden signed an executive order Monday banning government agencies from using commercial spyware produced by companies deemed to represent national security threats or implicated in human rights abuses.

The move comes after the US determined that some 50 government personnel in 10 countries were confirmed or suspected to have been targeted by spyware, according to a senior administration official who spoke in a press briefing on Monday to announce the order.

Spyware is a form of malicious software that intruders use to covertly access victims’ mobile phones, stealing data and recording calls and messages. Companies such as Israel’s NSO Group build and sell such surveillance software to governments, promising to help them track terrorists and other serious criminals. However, human rights experts say some governments have abused the technology to target journalists, activists and political opponents.

“US government personnel overseas have been targeted by commercial spyware, and untrustworthy commercial vendors and tools can present significant risks to the security and integrity of US Government information and information systems,” the White House said in a statement. 

Also Read: Prince Harry, Elton John appear before court in privacy case against UK newspaper

The order does not represent a wholesale ban on government agencies purchasing and using commercial spyware. 

Agencies will be banned from purchasing spyware from specific companies — whose identities are not yet public — that officials say pose a security risk to the US government or have enabled repression and human rights violations. The order is unlikely to impact intelligence agencies such as the National Security Agency and CIA, which have developed their own in-house hacking tools, according to documents previously disclosed by WikiLeaks and former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

The executive order is aimed at ensuring agencies’ use of spyware “aligns with core national security and foreign policy interests,” the senior administration official said Monday. The official added that the government wanted to ensure it was not contributing to the proliferation and misuse of commercial spyware and hoped to spur reform and greater regulation in the industry. 

The official declined to disclose how many US agencies were using spyware from companies that would now be prohibited under the executive order.

Also Read: Nashville school shooter had detailed maps of school, planned to attack ‘multiple’ locations: Police

The Biden administration has previously taken steps to curb abuses of commercial spyware and began closely examining the issue in summer of 2021, according to a senior administration official. 

In November 2021, the Commerce Department blacklisted Israeli vendors NSO Group and Candiru, accusing them of supplying spyware to foreign governments that used the tools to maliciously target government officials, journalists, businesspeople, activists, academics, and embassy workers. 

“Such practices threaten the rules-based international order,” the department said in a statement at the time.

Also Read: China spent $240 billion bailing out ‘Belt & Road’ countries from 2008 to 2021: Study

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

SC-appointed panel finds 5 phones infected with malware, says Centre didn’t cooperate

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed disappointment with the Centre for not clarifying if the spyware, Pegasus, was used or deployed by the government. The apex court said it needed to examine the report to decide the future course of action.

The top court opened the report submitted by a court-appointed panel. The court observed that the Technical Committee had held in its report that the Centre did not cooperate. The committee added that the Centre took the same stand as it did before the top court.

As per the Technical Committee’s report, five devices out of 29 phones that were investigated were infected with malware. The report held that the infected devices cannot be said to be a case of Pegasus but can result from poor cyber hygiene.

In 2021, the court set up a three-member technical panel headed by Justice Raveendran to probe allegations of the use of Pegasus.

Justice Raveendran’s report recommended amending existing laws on surveillance, ensuring the protection of the citizen’s right to privacy, establishing a mechanism for citizens to raise grievances against surveillance, and enhancing the nation’s cyber security.

The pleas are related to reports of alleged snooping by government agencies on eminent citizens, politicians and scribes by using Israeli firm NSO’s spyware Pegasus. An international media consortium had reported that over 300 verified Indian mobile phone numbers were on the list of potential targets for surveillance using Pegasus spyware.

BJP attacks Congress

Meanwhile, the BJP took the panel’s inconclusive findings as a sign of victory and launched a volley of attacks on the opposition. The BJP claimed the opposition’s attack on the government over the Pegasus issue was all part of a “motivated campaign” aimed at weakening Prime Minister Narendra Modi. BJP leader and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad wondered if Rahul Gandhi and the Congress will apologise.

“Opposition parties, so called intellectuals, some NGOs and a section of media ran a sustained campaign against the government,” Prasad told a press conference. He also alleged that the Congress has so much animus against Modi and his government that it resorts to falsehoods.

“Will Rahul Gandhi and the Congress apologise,” he asked, noting that the opposition leader had levelled charges like treason against the prime minister for alleged surveillance of his colleagues and opposition leaders using Pegasus.

The prime minister was accused of crushing democracy and parliamentary proceedings were disrupted over the issue, he said, accusing the opposition parties of taking cover of PILs to move court after running “motivated” campaigns.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Google says hackers targeted Apple and Android phones using Italian spyware

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Spyware and hacking tools of an Italian company were used to spy on Apple and Android smartphones in Italy and Kazakhstan, Google said in a report shared on June 23.

The company is identified as the Milan-based RCS Lab, which claims to have European law enforcement agencies as clients. As per the report, the company developed tools to spy on private messages and contacts of the targeted devices.

The Mountain View, California headquartered tech giant said that it has taken steps to protect the Android operating system and alerted users about the spyware. An Apple spokesperson told Reuters that the company has revoked all known accounts and certificates involved in the hacking campaign.

Also read: Google will now pay Wikimedia for improved access to information

RCS Lab, however, said that its products and services comply with European rules and help law enforcement agencies to investigate crimes. The company claimed that their personnel are not exposed, and they do not participate in any activities conducted by the relevant customers and condemns any abuse of its products.

RCS Lab on its website describes itself as a maker of “lawful interception” technologies and services including voice, data collection and tracking systems. As per its website, it handles 10,000 intercepted targets daily in Europe alone.

European and American regulators have been working on potential new rules over the sale and import of spyware.

Also read: Cybersecurity watchdog again flags multiple vulnerabilities in Google Chrome browser

“These vendors are enabling the proliferation of dangerous hacking tools and arming governments that would not be able to develop these capabilities in-house,” Google said.

Google researchers also discovered that RCS Lab had previously collaborated with the controversial, defunct Italian spy firm Hacking Team, which had created surveillance software for foreign governments.

The Hacking Team became a victim of a major hack in 2015 that led to a disclosure of numerous internal documents, and it went bust ever since.

Billy Leonard, a senior researcher at Google said that in some cases the hackers worked with the target’s internet service provider, which indicates that they had ties with the government.

The global industry of spyware for governments has been growing in recent years. More and more companies have been accused of aiding governments that in some cases use such tools to crack down on human rights and civil rights.

A global outrage against the industry was seen when Israeli surveillance firm NSO’s Pegasus spyware was found to be used by multiple governments to spy on journalists, activists and dissidents.

However, the spyware of RCS Lab may not be as stealthy as Pegasus, but it can still read messages and view passwords, according to Bill Marczak, a security researcher with digital watchdog Citizen Lab.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Spyware firm NSO looking to shut down Pegasus unit, sell company, says report

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

The NSO Group, the Israeli cyber security firm that’s known for its controversial Pegasus unit, is looking to sell the entire company and shut down operations, reported Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter.

The company, which has been embroiled in scandals and lawsuits, is at the risk of defaulting on its debts, said the report, adding that it has been in talks with investment funds for either refinancing its existing debt, or barring that an outright sale.

According to the report, two US-based funds that are in the running to take over the company have already discussed shutting down the Pegasus unit. In return, they’ll be investing $200 million in the company to turn Pegasus into a strictly defense-oriented cyber security service, it said.

The notorious spyware allowed clients of NSO, which the company claims to be legitimate governments, to comprehensively spy on their targets. Once on a mobile device through an unsecured link or dropped WhatsApp video call, even encrypted messaging apps are not secure. Pegasus sees messages, tracks call logs, user activity through apps, gathers location data of the device, can access the camera, and listen in through the microphone.

>>Pegasus row: How much does it cost to use the spyware?

However instead of terror threats, recent journalistic investigations found that NSO clients were using the spyware to keep tabs on political opponents, human rights activists, lawyers and journalists.

The Pegasus Project, as the investigation was named, alleged that in India the spyware was used to spy on ministers, opposition leaders, political strategists and tacticians, journalists, activists, minority leaders, Supreme Court judges, religious leaders, administrators like Election Commissioners and heads of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

In response to the allegations, the Supreme Court of India ordered an independent probe in the matter in October.

The group has a debt of about $450 million. The company had been bailed out by a management buyout just two years ago which saw it being valued at nearly $1 billion.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

US State Department phones hacked with Israeli company spyware: Report

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Apple Inc iPhones of at least nine U.S. State Department employees were hacked by an unknown assailant using sophisticated spyware developed by the Israel-based NSO Group, according to four people familiar with the matter.

The hacks, which took place in the last several months, hit U.S. officials either based in Uganda or focused on matters concerning the East African country, two of the sources said.

The intrusions, first reported here, represent the widest known hacks of U.S. officials through NSO technology. Previously, a list of numbers with potential targets including some American officials surfaced in reporting on NSO but it was not clear whether intrusions were always tried or succeeded.

Reuters could not determine who launched the latest cyberattacks.

NSO Group said in a statement on Thursday that it did not have any indication their tools were used but canceled access for the relevant customers and would investigate based on the Reuters inquiry.

“If our investigation shall show these actions indeed happened with NSO’s tools, such customer will be terminated permanently and legal actions will take place,” said an NSO spokesperson, who added that NSO will also “cooperate with any relevant government authority and present the full information we will have.”

Also Read: The future of cybersecurity: How digital attacks are fueling need for network security experts?

NSO has long said it only sells its products to government law enforcement and intelligence clients, helping them to monitor security threats, and is not directly involved in surveillance operations.

Officials at the Uganda embassy in Washington did not comment. A spokesperson for Apple declined to comment.

A State Department spokesperson declined to comment on the intrusions, instead pointing to the Commerce Department’s recent decision to place the Israeli company on an entity list, making it harder for U.S. companies to do business with them.

NSO Group and another spyware firm were “added to the Entity List based on a determination that they developed and supplied spyware to foreign governments that used this tool to maliciously target government officials, journalists, businesspeople, activists, academics, and embassy workers,” the Commerce Department said in an announcement last month.

EASILY IDENTIFIABLE

NSO software is capable of not only capturing encrypted messages, photos and other sensitive information from infected phones, but also turning them into recording devices to monitor surroundings, based on product manuals reviewed by Reuters.

Apple’s alert to affected users did not name the creator of the spyware used in this hack.

The victims notified by Apple included American citizens and were easily identifiable as U.S. government employees because they associated email addresses ending in state.gov with their Apple IDs, two of the people said.

They and other targets notified by Apple in multiple countries were infected through the same graphics processing vulnerability that Apple did not learn about and fix until September, the sources said.

Since at least February, this software flaw allowed some NSO customers to take control of iPhones simply by sending invisible yet tainted iMessage requests to the device, researchers who investigated the espionage campaign said.

The victims would not see or need to interact with a prompt for the hack to be successful. Versions of NSO surveillance software, commonly known as Pegasus, could then be installed.

Also Read | Explained: How spyware Pegasus, used to snoop on specific targets, infects phones

Apple’s announcement, accusing it of helping numerous customers break into Apple’s mobile software, iOS.

In a public response, NSO has said its technology helps stop terrorism and that they’ve installed controls to curb spying against innocent targets.

For example, NSO says its intrusion system cannot work on phones with U.S. numbers beginning with the country code +1.

But in the Uganda case, the targeted State Department employees were using iPhones registered with foreign telephone numbers, said two of the sources, without the U.S. country code.

Uganda has been roiled this year by an election with reported irregularities and a government crackdown. U.S. officials have tried to meet with opposition leaders, drawing ire from the Ugandan government. Reuters has no evidence the hacks were related to current events in Uganda.

A senior Biden administration official, speaking on condition he not be identified, said the threat to U.S. personnel abroad was one of the reasons the administration was cracking down on companies such as NSO and pursuing new global discussion about spying limits.

The official added that the government has seen “systemic abuse” in multiple countries involving NSO’s Pegasus spyware.

Sen. Ron Wyden, who is on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said: “Companies that enable their customers to hack U.S. government employees are a threat to America’s national security and should be treated as such.”

Historically, some of NSO Group’s best-known past clients included Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Mexico.

The Israeli Ministry of Defense must approve export licenses for NSO, which has close ties to Israel’s defense and intelligence communities, to sell its technology internationally.

In a statement, the Israeli embassy in Washington said that targeting American officials would be a serious breach of its rules.

“Cyber products like the one mentioned are supervised and licensed to be exported to governments only for purposes related to counter-terrorism and severe crimes,” an embassy spokesperson said. “The licensing provisions are very clear and if these claims are true, it is a severe violation of these provisions.”

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Explained: App permissions, updated passwords to browsing in private mode, here’s how to ensure digital privacy

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

As we become more and more dependent on digital technologies and share information on social media, banking websites and all sorts of apps, our privacy is a growing concern. So, how do we protect our data? For starters, we need to incorporate small but useful steps to ensure the safety of the information that we share on the internet.

Here are a few tips that can help you have a better and safer online presence.

Check social media privacy

Our social media pages contain a lot of information about our lives, and while we may not realise it, this information may be visible to everyone by default. So, it’s advised to check your privacy settings regularly and restrict it to people you want to share information with. Avoid making public personal details like year of birth, and place of birth. Such information could put you at a greater risk of identity theft.

Browse in private mode

If you don’t wish to save your browsing data and cookies on your device, do your surfing in private mode. These private modes have different names in different browsers. For example, the built-in private mode of the Google Chrome browser is called incognito mode. Surfing in incognito mode lets you off the radar of someone following the search history of devices you use. However, it must be noted that these private mode browsings are not completely private. Even while browsing in private mode, your Internet service provider can track your activity.

Keep your device updated

Keeping your device’s software updated will help protect your device from any external attack. The updates of security patches in the operating software allow devices to build a resistance against spyware and viruses.

Do not click on untrusted links

Links and messages from unknown sources can be spyware that may compromise the security of your device. Avoid clicking on links that you don’t trust as it could be a trap to lure you into a phishing attack.

Avoid sharing private information on public storages

Sharing private details on online services meant for sharing information may put your data at risk of attack. For example, using Google Docs or any other similar service to store your password increases the risk of data compromise.

Update and use a secure password

To secure your online presence from an attack, regularly update your password and use long and unique passwords for all the services you use. Use passwords longer than 12 characters and use both cases, numeric and special signs.

Check app permissions

Mobile apps may ask for different permissions when you sign up. While some of these permissions are required to make your experience better, some are generally asked to profile you for marketing. Check apps and restrict them from using things that they don’t require for regular functioning.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Apple suing Israeli hacker-for-hire company NSO Group

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Tech giant Apple announced Tuesday it is suing Israels NSO Group, seeking to block the worlds most infamous hacker-for-hire company from breaking into Apple’s products, like the iPhone.

Apple said in a complaint filed in federal court in California that NSO Group employees are amoral 21st century mercenaries who have created highly sophisticated cyber-surveillance machinery that invites routine and flagrant abuse.” Apple said NSO Group’s spyware, called Pegasus, had been used to attack a small number of Apple customers worldwide.

State-sponsored actors like the NSO Group spend millions of dollars on sophisticated surveillance technologies without effective accountability. That needs to change, said Craig Federighi, Apples senior vice president of software engineering.

NSO Group has broadly denied wrongdoing and said its products have been used by governments to save lives.

Pedophiles and terrorists can freely operate in technological safe-havens, and we provide governments the lawful tools to fight it. NSO group will continue to advocate for the truth, the company said in a statement.

It’s the latest blow to the hacking firm, which was recently blacklisted by the U.S. Commerce Department and is currently being sued by social media giant Facebook.

Security researchers have found Pegasus being used around the world to break into the phones of human rights activists, journalists and even members of the Catholic clergy.

Pegasus infiltrates phones to vacuum up personal and location data and surreptitiously controls the smartphones microphones and cameras. Researchers have found several examples of NSO Group tools using so-called zero click exploits that infect targeted mobile phones without any user interaction.

The Biden administration announced this month that NSO Group and another Israeli cybersecurity firm called Candiru were being added to the entity list, which limits their access to U.S. components and technology by requiring government permission for exports.

Also this month, security researchers disclosed that Pegasus spyware was detected on the cellphones of six Palestinian human rights activists. And Mexican prosecutors recently announced they have arrested a businessman on charges he used the Pegasus spyware to spy on a journalist.

Facebook has sued NSO Group over the use of a somewhat similar exploit that allegedly intruded via its globally popular encrypted WhatsApp messaging app. A U.S. federal appeals court issued a ruling this month rejecting an effort by NSO Group to have the lawsuit thrown out.

Apple also announced Tuesday that it was donating $10 million, as well as any damages won in the NSO Group lawsuit, to cybersurveillance researchers and advocates.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Pegasus row: SC hints at constitution of technical committee, says won’t endanger national security

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

The Supreme Court on Tuesday hinted at constituting a technical committee to look into the Pegasus row. A batch of pleas sought to know from the Centre if it took steps to probe the snooping allegations and wanted an independent probe into the alleged surveillance of certain eminent people in India through the use of Israeli spyware.

The apex court observed, “We are thinking that we will constitute a committee. None of us would want to endanger national security. For the defence of the nation, we will not seek such disclosure, not compelling the government to disclose. Let the competent authority under IT Rules take a decision on what information is to be shared with the court in an affidavit, we will take it forward from there.”

The apex court said it will take up the pleas for hearing after 10 days and will see what course of action should be adopted in the matter.

Also read | How much does it cost to use Pegasus spyware?

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, cited “national security” as it refused to clarify in the top court on the procurement and use of Pegasus. The Centre submitted that it will only clarify on procurement, use of Pegasus before a Committee of Experts appointed by it. The Centre also submitted that the government should be the one to constitute a Committee of Experts.

The pleas are related to reports of alleged snooping by government agencies on eminent citizens, politicians and scribes by using Israeli firm NSO’s spyware Pegasus An international media consortium has reported that over 300 verified Indian mobile phone numbers were on the list of potential targets for surveillance using the Pegasus spyware.

The apex court had said on Monday that it cannot compel the reluctant Centre to file a detailed affidavit on pleas seeking information if Pegasus spyware was used to snoop on certain citizens and steps it took to probe the allegations amid vehement claims that there was nothing to hide and it will set up a panel to examine all aspects related to the issue.

With inputs from PTI

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Pegasus row: How much does it cost to use the spyware?

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Created by Israel-based surveillance tech company NSO Group, the Pegasus spyware was allegedly used to hack into smartphones of ministers, opposition leaders and journalists in India.

According to a 2016 New York Times report, the NSO — which claims to deal with only authorised governments — doesn’t sell its spyware cheap. In fact, the cost of spying on people by putting Pegasus in their smartphones runs into crores.

The Israeli firm charges an installation fee of $500,000 (around Rs 3.7 crore), $650,000 (Rs 4.8 crore) to spy on 10 iPhones or Android users; $500,000 to spy on five BlackBerry users; or $300,000 (Rs 2.23 crore) to spy on five Symbian users, according to the report.

The report adds that 100 additional spyware targets cost $800,000 (around Rs 5.9 crore). The price for 50 extra targets is $500,000, for 20 extra targets is $250,000 (Rs 1.8 crore), and for 10 extra targets is $150,000 (Rs 1.1 crore).

The NSO Group also charges a hefty maintenance fee of 17 percent of the total price.

Going by this 2016 price chart and considering that 300 people were put under such surveillance, the service would have cost a few hundred crores. The cost would shoot up further if renewal charges and annual cost escalation are factored in.

Meanwhile, French media rights organisation — Forbidden Stories — has clarified that the presence of a phone number in the database doesn’t necessarily mean that the corresponding device was infected with Pegasus.

Among Indians, the database had the phone numbers of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, election strategist Prashant Kishor, former Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa and leaders of the Congress-JD(S) government in Karnataka and 40 journalists.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Apple condemns Pegasus spyware attack; says ‘working tirelessly’ to defend customers

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Following news reports of the NSO Group hack, Ivan Krstic, Head of Apple Security Engineering and Architecture spoke to CNBC-TV18 and told that Apple unequivocally condemns cyberattacks against journalists, human rights activists and others seeking to make the world a better place.

“For over a decade, Apple has led the industry in security innovation and, as a result, security researchers agree iPhone is the safest, most secure consumer mobile device on the market,” he said.

“Attacks like the ones described are highly sophisticated, cost millions of dollars to develop, often have a short shelf life, and are used to target specific individuals. While that means they are not a threat to the overwhelming majority of our users, we continue to work tirelessly to defend all our customers, and we are constantly adding new protections for their devices and data,” Krstic added.

In 2019, several journalists and activists were informed by WhatsApp that their devices were compromised by Israeli spyware Pegasus. The spyware is again in the news after reports of global surveillance operations were published by prominent media organisations.

The NSO Group, an Israeli company that specialises in cyber weapons including surveillance software, has developed this spyware. The first reported activity of the spyware came in 2016 when an Arab activist received a suspicious message.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow