Security News

Leaked NSO Group Data Hints at Widespread Pegasus Spyware Infections
2021-07-19 15:56

Israeli-based NSO Group is being blasted in a groundbreaking report that alleges that the company's controversial Pegasus malware is being used to target activists, journalists, business executives and politicians on a widespread level, using a variety of exploits - including a zero-click zero-day in iOS. A consortium of journalists leveled the allegations in a report called Pegasus Project, which was published Sunday. It examined leaked data from the NSO Group, which revealed a cache of more than 50,000 mobile phone numbers worldwide that the firm was storing, according to the report published by the Guardian newspaper.

iPhones running latest iOS hacked to deploy NSO Group spyware
2021-07-19 09:03

Human rights non-governmental organization Amnesty International and non-profit project Forbidden Stories revealed in a recent report that they found spyware made by Israeli surveillance firm NSO Group deployed on iPhones running Apple's latest iOS release, hacked using zero-day zero-click iMessage exploits. Citizen Lab was able to independently observe NSO Pegasus spyware deployed on an iPhone 12 Pro Max running iOS 14.6, hacked via a zero-day zero-click iMessage exploit, which does not require interaction from the target.

Tech Giants Lend WhatsApp Support in Spyware Case Against NSO Group
2020-12-22 16:24

Facebook subsidiary WhatsApp has received new high-caliber support in its case against Israeli intelligence company NSO Group. The court case aims to hold NSO Group accountable for distributing its Pegasus spyware on the popular WhatsApp messaging service with the intent of planting its spyware on phones of journalists and human rights workers.

Facebook’s NSO Group Lawsuit Over WhatsApp Spying Set to Proceed
2020-07-20 17:24

Facebook's lawsuit against NSO Group over alleged spying on WhatsApp users will be allowed to go forward. WhatsApp-owner Facebook is alleging that NSO Group exploited a vulnerability in WhatsApp to deploy its spyware against human rights activists, journalists and political dissidents.

NSO Group Impersonates Facebook Security Team to Spread Spyware — Report
2020-05-22 14:12

According to an investigative journalist team, the Israeli authors of the infamous Pegasus mobile spyware, NSO Group, have been using a spoofed Facebook login page, crafted to look like an internal Facebook security team portal, to lure victims in. The news comes as Facebook alleges that NSO Group has been using U.S.-based infrastructure to launch espionage attacks.

Senator demands deep probe into spyware-for-cops after NSO Group touts hacking toolkit to American plod
2020-05-13 21:57

Senator Ron Wyden was reacting to Vice's discovery of a brochure by Westbridge Technologies - the US sales wing of the controversial NSO Group - which pitched NSO's Pegasus technology, rebadged as Phantom, to a police force in San Diego, California. The reference to spying on an ex-partner relates to claims that an employee of NSO Group who was caught using the firm's technology to spy on a woman they were interested in romantically.

Senator demands deep probe into spyware-for-cops after NSO Group touts hacking toolkit to American plod
2020-05-13 21:57

Senator Ron Wyden was reacting to Vice's discovery of a brochure by Westbridge Technologies - the US sales wing of the controversial NSO Group - which pitched NSO's Pegasus technology, rebadged as Phantom, to a police force in San Diego, California. The reference to spying on an ex-partner relates to claims that an employee of NSO Group who was caught using the firm's technology to spy on a woman they were interested in romantically.

NSO Group: Facebook tried to license our spyware to snoop on its own addicts – the same spyware it's suing us over
2020-04-03 21:37

NSO Group - sued by Facebook for developing Pegasus spyware that targeted WhatsApp users - this week claimed Facebook tried to license the very same surveillance software to snoop on its own social-media addicts. The Israeli spyware maker's CEO Shalev Hulio alleged in a statement [PDF] to a US federal district court that in 2017 he was approached by Facebook reps who wanted to use NSO's Pegasus technology in Facebook's controversial Onavo Protect app to track mobile users.

NSO Group fires back at Facebook: You lied to the court, claims spyware slinger, and we've got the proof
2020-03-09 19:33

Facebook has been accused of lying to a US court in its ongoing legal battle against government malware maker NSO Group. A series of filings from NSO lawyers lay out the Israeli security company's reasoning for its no-show in court on 2 March, including the accusation that Facebook never properly served its lawyers with legal papers, despite telling the court that it had. The accusations were made in court documents [PDF] in which NSO has asked the court to vacate the earlier default judgement entered at the start of last week after the security shop's lawyers failed to turn up at the California US District Court.

3 Google Play Store Apps Exploit Android Zero-Day Used by NSO Group
2020-01-07 08:41

Watch out! If you have any of the below-mentioned file managers and photography apps installed on your Android phone-even if downloaded from the official Google Store store⁠-you have been hacked and being tracked. These newly detected malicious Android apps are Camero, FileCrypt, and callCam that are believed to be linked to Sidewinder APT, a sophisticated hacking group specialized in cyber espionage attacks.