A 360° view on tech world
Last year, Apple launched a new feature for iPhone users who are worried about getting targeted with sophisticated spyware, such as journalists or human rights defenders. Now, researchers say they have found evidence that the feature — called Lockdown Mode — helped block an attack by hackers using spyware made by the infamous mercenary hacking […]
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The Biden administration on Monday announced a new executive order that would broadly ban U.S. federal agencies from using commercially developed spyware that poses threats to human rights and national security. The move to ban federal agencies — including law enforcement, defense and intelligence — from using commercial spyware comes as officials confirmed that dozens […]
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The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to block a lawsuit brought by WhatsApp challenging the alleged mass phone hacking by Israeli spyware maker NSO Group. Meta-owned WhatsApp first filed a suit against NSO Group in 2019 claiming the spyware maker exploited an audio-calling vulnerability in WhatsApp to stealthily deliver its Pegasus phone spyware onto users’ […]
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Security researchers have linked the discovery of an actively exploited but since-fixed zero-day vulnerability in Google Chrome to an Israeli spyware maker targeting journalists in the Middle East. Cybersecurity company Avast has linked the exploitation to Candiru, a Tel Aviv-based hacking-for-hire company also known as Saito Tech, which provides its powerful spyware to government clients. […]
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Apple said Wednesday it will bring a new “Lockdown Mode” to its upcoming iPhone and Mac software that will switch off certain features aimed at helping targeted individuals combat government-grade spyware. The technology giant said the new feature is an “extreme optional protection” for device owners who are more likely to be targeted by nation […]
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Security researchers at Lookout recently tied a previously unattributed Android mobile spyware, dubbed Hermit, to Italian software house RCS Lab. Now, Google threat researchers have confirmed much of Lookout’s findings and are notifying Android users whose devices were compromised by the spyware. Hermit is a commercial spyware known to be used by governments, with victims […]
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Security researchers at Lookout have released new details about an Android spyware deployed in targeted attacks by national governments, with victims in Kazakhstan, Syria and Italy. The spyware, which Lookout is naming Hermit, was first detected in Kazakhstan in April, just months after the Kazakh government violently suppressed protests against government policies. Lookout said a […]
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The European Parliament voted on Thursday to create a new “committee of inquiry” to investigate allegations that European member states acquired and used the powerful Pegasus mobile spyware. Lawmakers voted largely in favor to create the committee, which will investigate the use of Pegasus and other surveillance spyware across the 27 member states of the […]
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Every once in a while a major bug, vulnerability or security scare will spark panic. In most cases, it’s absolutely unnecessary panic. Take yesterday’s reported vulnerability. Israeli hacking outfit NSO Group, a developer of malware typically used by governments, was caught using a hack targeting WhatsApp that allowed the attackers to remotely spy on the […]
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WhatsApp just fixed a vulnerability that allowed malicious actors to remotely install spyware on affected phones, and an unknown number reportedly did so with a commercial-grade snooping package usually sold to nation-states.
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