There is well-known spyware named Pegasus that is developed by The NSO group, a cybersecurity company located in Israel. This spyware was originally sold primarily to government agencies and other bodies of power for use to fight against criminals. Unfortunately, this spyware is also being used against innocent individuals. While Pegasus is not new software, the latest Apple iOS vulnerability and patch are.
There have been increased instances of this spyware being used against Apple devices. This spyware is very sophisticated and is being used in conjunction with a “zero click” vulnerability within Apple iOS devices. The term “zero click” means there is no user interaction needed to take advantage of the vulnerability and install the Pegasus (or similar) spyware/malware. The only action needed is for the attacker to send a specific text message to the victim’s phone. Once this is done, the exploit can be executed, and the attacker now has full remote access to your device. After access is gained, Pegasus spyware is reportedly capable of stealing data, passwords, and activating a phone’s microphone or camera.
If you would like to learn more about the Pegasus spyware, we recommend this article published by The Verge.
Apple has issued an urgent update for this vulnerability. To ensure your devices are not vulnerable to this exploit, please update all Apple devices (iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, iMacs and MacBooks) as soon as possible. Instructions for updating all Apple devices are below, please confirm all devices are on the updated versions accordingly.
Updating iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to iOS 14.8 or iPadOS 14.8
Updating Apple Watch to watchOS7.6.2
Updating MacBook and iMac to MacOS 11.6
Please contact us with any questions. Stay safe out there!
