Latest iPhone exploit, FORCEDENTRY, used to launch Pegasus attack against Bahraini activists

Researchers from Citizen Lab, an academic research and development lab based in the University of Toronto in Canada, has recently discovered that an exploit affecting iMessage is being used to target Bahraini activists with the Pegasus spyware. The Bahrain government and groups linked to them—suc...

Pegasus Spyware Uses iPhone Zero-Click iMessage Zero-Day

A never-before-seen, zero-click iMessaging exploit has been allegedly used to illegally spy on Bahraini activists with NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware, according to cybersecurity watchdog Citizen Lab. The digital researchers are calling the new iMessaging exploit FORCEDENTRY. In a report published on...

NSO Group Hacked

NSO Group, the Israeli cyberweapons arms manufacturer behind the Pegasus spyware -- used by authoritarian regimes around the world to spy on dissidents, journalists, human rights workers, and others -- was hacked. Or, at least, an enormous trove of documents was leaked to journalists. Theres a lo...

Israeli Firm Helped Governments Target Journalists, Activists with 0-Days and Spyware

Two of the zero-day Windows flaws rectified by Microsoft as part of its Patch Tuesday update earlier this week were weaponized by an Israel-based company called Candiru in a series of "precision attacks" to hack more than 100 journalists, academics, activists, and political dissidents globally. T...

Protecting customers from a private-sector offensive actor using 0-day exploits and DevilsTongue malware

The Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center MSTIC alongside the Microsoft Security Response Center MSRC has uncovered a private-sector offensive actor, or PSOA, that we are calling SOURGUM in possession of now-patched, Windows 0-day exploits CVE-2021-31979 and CVE-2021-33771. Private-sector offensiv...

Protecting customers from a private-sector offensive actor using 0-day exploits and DevilsTongue malware

The Microsoft Threat Intelligence Center MSTIC alongside the Microsoft Security Response Center MSRC has uncovered a private-sector offensive actor, or PSOA, that we are calling SOURGUM in possession of now-patched, Windows 0-day exploits CVE-2021-31979 and CVE-2021-33771. Private-sector offensiv...

Google uncovers new iOS security feature Apple quietly added after zero-day attacks

Google Project Zero on Thursday disclosed details of a new security mechanism that Apple quietly added to iOS 14 as a countermeasure to prevent attacks that were recently found to leverage zero-days in its messaging app. Dubbed "BlastDoor," the improved sandbox system for iMessage data was...

Zero-Click Apple Zero-Day Uncovered in Pegasus Spy Attack

Four nation-state-backed advanced persistent threats APTs hacked Al Jazeera journalists, producers, anchors and executives, in an espionage attack leveraging a zero-day exploit for Apple iPhone, researchers said. The attack, carried out in July and August, compromised 36 personal phones belonging...

New Hacking-for-Hire Company in India

Citizen Lab has a new report on Dark Basin, a large hacking-for-hire company in India. Key Findings: Dark Basin is a hack-for-hire group that has targeted thousands of individuals and hundreds of institutions on six continents. Targets include advocacy groups and journalists, elected and senior...

Indian IT Company Was Hired to Hack Politicians, Investors, Journalists Worldwide

A team of cybersecurity researchers today outed a little-known Indian IT firm that has secretly been operating as a global hackers-for-hire service or hacking-as-a-service platform. Based in Delhi, BellTroX InfoTech allegedly targeted thousands of high-profile individuals and hundreds of...

Indian IT Company Was Hired to Hack Politicians, Investors, Journalists Worldwide

A team of cybersecurity researchers today outed a little-known Indian IT firm that has secretly been operating as a global hackers-for-hire service or hacking-as-a-service platform. Based in Delhi, BellTroX InfoTech allegedly targeted thousands of high-profile individuals and hundreds of...

WhatsApp Spyware Attack: Uncovering NSO Group Activity

On the heels of Facebook filing a lawsuit against Israeli company NSO Group — alleging that it was behind the massive WhatsApp hack earlier this year — privacy experts say that the move is “popping the unaccountable bubble” that commercial spyware companies have carved out for themselves. After...

Report on the Stalkerware Industry

Citizen Lab just published an excellent report on the stalkerware industry. Boing Boing post...

Hackers Used WhatsApp 0-Day Flaw to Secretly Install Spyware On Phones

Whatsapp has recently patched a severe vulnerability that was being exploited by attackers to remotely install surveillance malware on a few "selected" smartphones by simply calling the targeted phone numbers over Whatsapp audio call. Discovered, weaponized and then sold by the Israeli company NS...

Lawsuit Claims Pegasus Spyware Helped Saudis Spy on Khashoggi

A well-known Saudi dissident previously targeted by the notorious Pegasus spyware has filed a lawsuit against that spyware’s authors, Israel-based NSO Group. The suit claims that Pegasus was instrumental in the Saudi government’s surveillance of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi leading ...

Pegasus Spyware Targets Investigative Journalists in Mexico

The notorious state actor mobile spyware known as Pegasus has resurfaced, targeting the colleagues of a slain Mexican journalist who lived – and died – investigating drug cartels. Journalist Javier Valdez Cárdenas, founder of Río Doce, a Mexican newspaper known for investigating the narco trade,...

StrongPity APT Changes Tactics to Stay Stealthy

The APT group behind the sophisticated malware known as StrongPity a.k.a. Promethium has changed its tactics, after various research groups analyzed the malware and exposed its methods of deployment. The efforts have allowed the group to return to hidden status, even after being labeled a known...

Virus Bulletin 2018: Saudi Dissident Spyware Attack Belies Bigger Threat

MONTREAL – This week, news broke that a well-known Saudi dissident has been targeted by the notorious Pegasus spyware – after he gained permanent citizen status in Canada. While this fits into pattern of ongoing attacks on “civil society” members i.e., journalists, social justice activists,...

Pegasus Spyware Used in 45 Countries

Citizen Lab has published a new report about the Pegasus spyware. From a ZDNet article: The malware, known as Pegasus or Trident, was created by Israeli cyber-security firm NSO Group and has been around for at least three years -- when it was first detailed in a report over the summer of 2016. Th...

Powerful Android and iOS Spyware Found Deployed in 45 Countries

One of the world's most dangerous Android and iPhone spyware program has been found deployed against targets across 45 countries around the world over the last two years, a new report from Citizen Lab revealed. The infamous spyware, dubbed Pegasus, is developed by NSO Group—an Israeli company whi...