iPhone can be attacked through iMessage vulnerability, how does Apple explain?

According to the latest report by Amnesty International, the iPhone has a vulnerability in iMessages that makes its owner vulnerable. Based on exploit software called Peagsus, distributed by NSO Group, hackers can penetrate the victim's iPhone to collect and steal data.

More dangerous, hackers can conduct attacks without any interaction from the victim (zero-click attack).

NSO Group is a privately held company in Israel that sells exploit software to large companies. This is not the first time that NSO Group's Pegasus has successfully exploited an iPhone vulnerability. Previously, they found and exploited vulnerabilities in the Photos and Apple Music apps.

Amnesty International says the iMessages vulnerability affects iPhones and iPads running iOS 14.6 and iPadOS 14.6. Hackers can also successfully exploit this vulnerability on iOS 14.3 and iOS 14.4.

Notably, Pegasus users exploiting the iMessages flaw only targeted human rights activists, lawyers, and reporters.

When asked about this issue, Apple's head of security Ivan Krstic shared the following:

"Apple strongly condemns cyberattacks against journalists, human rights activists, and others seeking to make the world a better place.

For more than a decade, Apple has led the industry in security innovation, so security researchers all agree that the iPhone is the safest, most secure consumer device on the market. .

Attacks such as those described are often highly sophisticated, cost millions of dollars to develop, have a short lifetime, and are used to target specific individuals.

This means they are not a threat to the majority of our users. However, we continue to work tirelessly to protect all of our customers, and we are constantly adding new protections to their devices and data."

As Apple claims, attacks like this don't usually target consumers. However, to ensure your own safety, always update your device to the latest software.

Lesley Montoya

Update 22 July 2021