Apple Says US Department of State iPhones Hacked by NSO Group

Apple has told some U.S. State Department officials that their iPhones have been targeted by a sophisticated jailbreak tool created by the NSO Group. Recently Apple filed a lawsuit on the organization responsible for the Pegasus spyware, which was designed to undermine the security of iOS and Android. In addition, the company began notifying iPhone users around the world that they were victims of the Pegasus spyware.

Reuters exclusively reported that spyware from the Israel-based NSO Group targeted at least nine employees working for the US State Department. As the report notes, the significance of this event is that it marks the largest known hacking of American officials using hacking tools created by the NSO.

The company behind these hacking tools has dodged responsibility for the targeted hacking of State Department officials, and Reuters notes that the party using the NSO hacking tools has not yet been identified. Spyware spreads through an iMessage that appears invisible to the recipient. Reuters reports that State Department officials were attacked through their Apple IDs, which used state.gov email addresses.

A source: reuters

Illustrations: REUTERS / Amir Cohen