... and unleashes the dogs of war: Apple sues NSO Group
Apple has filed a lawsuit against the Israeli company NSO Group and its owners OSY Technologies. The accusation of the American company stems from the proven espionage of American Apple users by two Israeli companies. The company is also asking the court to ban the NSO Group from using Apple's services and software to prevent further abuse.
Apple was the latest company to clearly state its position against the NSO Group's actions, following Microsoft, Meta (Facebook), Alphabet and Cisco Systems. Earlier this month, the US included the Israeli company on its banned list. As you may recall, another report was released this summer on the activities of the NSO Group, which for years sold its Pegasus spyware to undemocratic governments around the world, which was used to spy on journalists, opposition activists, political leaders, human rights defenders and others. "unwanted" people.
NSO Group has created tools to breach the security of various devices and products, selling these tools and knowledge to governments around the world. However, the NSO Group itself claims to be actively working to prevent the misuse of their software. And we, of course, willingly trust these wonderful people.
Apple's lawsuit against the company recalls that NSO tools were used in 2021 campaigns designed specifically to target Apple users, and American owners of the company's devices were tracked using NSO spyware. The company created over 100 fake Apple IDs to carry out the attacks, and while the company's servers were not directly hacked, they were manipulated to aid in these attacks.
Apple has also already announced that it intends to donate $ 10 million, as well as any damages it expects to be awarded in its favor, Citizen Lab, the University of Toronto and other organizations that have helped shed light on the NSO Group's actions.
Illustrations: Sora shimazaki