Apple Says Certain iPhones At Risk of Malware Hacks

It's come to light that Apple products are currently being targeted by Pegasus spyware.

According to Citizen Lab, "Last week, while checking the device of an individual employed by a Washington DC-based civil society organization with international offices, Citizen Lab found an actively exploited zero-click vulnerability being used to deliver NSO Group’s Pegasus mercenary spyware."

The zero-click vulnerability means that this spyware has been able to get into phones and iPads "without any interaction from the victim."

On Thursday, September 7, 2023, Apple released software updates to deal with this vulnerability: iOS 16.6.1 and iPadOS 16.6.1. And Citizen Lab is urging all users "to immediately update their devices." Without doing the latest update, your phone or iPad is at risk.

You can update your Apple device by going to your Settings, then to "General," and "Software Update," where you can select iOS 16.6.1 or iPadOS 16.6.1, depending on your device.

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If Pegasus sounds familiar, you're likely remembering back in 2021, when 50,000 phones were potentially targeted by Pegasus software.

That year, John Scott-Railton, a researcher at Citizen Lab, shared with Slate: "As soon as your phone is infected, the Pegasus operator can see whatever you see. They can see your encrypted chats. They can see the messages you send. They can see the pictures you take of your friends and yourself. They can read your notes to yourself, look at your web browsing. They can even activate the camera and microphone and listen in, from your pocket, to the room that you’re in. It’s incredibly invasive stuff."

So, make sure to update your device(s) ASAP.

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