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http://motherboard.vice.com/read/government-hackers-iphone-hacking-jailbreak-nso-group
The researchers at Citizen Lab and Lookout were impressed by this new, never-seen-before, type of malware.
“We realized that we were looking at something that no one had ever seen in the wild before. Literally a click on a link to jailbreak an iPhone in one step,” Murray told Motherboard. “One of the most sophisticated pieces of cyberespionage software we’ve ever seen.”
Since its founding in 2010, NSO has developed a reputation for providing sophisticated malware to governments that need to target cellphones in their investigations, although the use of its tools has never been documented before. The company claims that its products are completely stealthy, like a “ghost.” The company has been so guarded about its wares that it’s never had a website, and has rarely given interviews or any comments to the press. But some information has leaked out, including an investment for $120 million by a US-based venture capital firm in 2014 and a subsequent reported valuation of $1 billion.
NSO’s malware, which the company codenamed Pegasus, is designed to quietly infect an iPhone and be able to steal and intercept all data inside of it, as well as any communication going through it.
“It basically steals all the information on your phone, it intercepts every call, it intercepts every text message, it steals all the emails, the contacts, the FaceTime calls. It also basically backdoors every communications mechanism you have on the phone,” Murray explained. “It steals all the information in the Gmail app, all the Facebook messages, all the Facebook information, your Facebook contacts, everything from Skype, WhatsApp, Viber, WeChat, Telegram—you name it.”
The researchers at Citizen Lab and Lookout were impressed by this new, never-seen-before, type of malware.
“We realized that we were looking at something that no one had ever seen in the wild before. Literally a click on a link to jailbreak an iPhone in one step,” Murray told Motherboard. “One of the most sophisticated pieces of cyberespionage software we’ve ever seen.”
Since its founding in 2010, NSO has developed a reputation for providing sophisticated malware to governments that need to target cellphones in their investigations, although the use of its tools has never been documented before. The company claims that its products are completely stealthy, like a “ghost.” The company has been so guarded about its wares that it’s never had a website, and has rarely given interviews or any comments to the press. But some information has leaked out, including an investment for $120 million by a US-based venture capital firm in 2014 and a subsequent reported valuation of $1 billion.
NSO’s malware, which the company codenamed Pegasus, is designed to quietly infect an iPhone and be able to steal and intercept all data inside of it, as well as any communication going through it.
“It basically steals all the information on your phone, it intercepts every call, it intercepts every text message, it steals all the emails, the contacts, the FaceTime calls. It also basically backdoors every communications mechanism you have on the phone,” Murray explained. “It steals all the information in the Gmail app, all the Facebook messages, all the Facebook information, your Facebook contacts, everything from Skype, WhatsApp, Viber, WeChat, Telegram—you name it.”
