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Spyware
Apple Cyber Security data security iPhone Hacks Mobile Hacking Mobile Spyware Pegasus Pegasus Spyware Spyware

Apple Alerts Pegasus-like Attack on Indian Activists and Leaders

 

On July 10, two individuals in India received alarming notifications from Apple, Inc. on their iPhones, indicating they were targeted by a “mercenary” attack. This type of spyware allows attackers to infiltrate personal devices, granting access to messages, photos, and the ability to activate the microphone and camera in real time. Apple had previously described these as “state-backed” attacks but revised the terminology in April. 

Iltija Mufti, political adviser and daughter of former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, and Pushparaj Deshpande, founder of the Samruddha Bharat Foundation, reported receiving these alerts. Both Mufti and Deshpande confirmed to The Hindu that they had updated their phones and planned to have them forensically examined. A spokesperson for Apple in India did not provide an immediate comment. 

Although the alert did not specifically mention state involvement, it cited Pegasus spyware as an example. Pegasus, developed by the Israeli NSO Group Technologies, is exclusively sold to governments. The Indian government has not confirmed or denied using Pegasus and declined to participate in a Supreme Court-ordered probe into its deployment. This is the first instance in months where such spyware alerts have been issued. 

The last known occurrence was in October, when Apple devices belonging to Siddharth Varadarajan of The Wire and Anand Mangnale of the Organized Crime and Corruption Report Project received similar warnings. Forensic analysis later confirmed they were targeted using vulnerabilities exploited by Pegasus clients. Both Mufti and Deshpande criticized the Union government, accusing it of using Pegasus. Mufti stated on X (formerly Twitter), “BJP shamelessly snoops on women only because we refuse to toe their line,” while Deshpande highlighted the government’s misplaced priorities, focusing on deploying Pegasus rather than addressing India’s significant challenges. 

An international investigation in 2021 by the Forbidden Stories collective exposed widespread targeting of civil society organizations, opposition politicians, and journalists with Pegasus spyware. The Indian government denied illegal activity but did not clearly confirm or deny the use of Pegasus. Alleged targets included Rahul Gandhi, former Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa, student activist Umar Khalid, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Dalai Lama’s entourage, and individuals implicated in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence.
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spyware and malware
Competition Watchdogs malware Mobile Spyware NSO Group Spyware spyware and malware

Pegasus: Spyware Attacks Targets Journalists and Activists

 

Phones of at least two journalists and a human life defender have been hacked and accessed with the Pegasus spyware, between 2019 and 2021 during the term of current President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, despite the government guaranteeing that it would no longer be using the spyware technology.
 
The findings were made at Citizen Lab, a digital watchdog group based at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. It was detected that the spyware in fact belonged to Israel’s NSO Group. Reportedly, Pegasus broke into victims’ phones, providing the actors access to their devices, which were then traded with the government and law enforcement. 
 
President Lopez, in a statement made in 2021 said there was “no longer any relation” with Pegasus.  In addition, Mexico’s financial crime chief stated that the administration had not signed contracts with companies that procured the spyware.
 
“This new report definitively shows that Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador can no longer hide behind blaming his predecessor for widespread use of Pegasus in Mexico [...] Mexican authorities must immediately and transparently investigate the use of Pegasus and other spyware to target journalists during his administration, as well as push for more regulations to end the use of this technology against the press once and for all,” stated CPJ’S Mexico representative, Jan-Albert Hootsen.
 
The President’s statement promising that the country would not use the spyware was followed by a dozen media organizations revealing that the phone numbers of at least 50 people linked to the Mexican president were leaked. These people, popularly known as Amlo, included his wife, children, and doctor, with their leaked database at the heart of the Pegasus Project, an investigation into NSO.
 
The phone of an anonymous journalist of an online outlet Animal Politico was infected by the spyware in 2021, Journalist Ricardo Raphael, a columnist at news magazine Proceso and newspaper Milenio Diario who was previously infected in 2016 and 2017, was attacked with Pegasus in October, and December 2019 and December 2020, at least three times. 

While Citizen Lab reported that the recent attacks differ in numerous ways from the previous ones, including the use of zero-click attacks instead of malicious e-mails and messages with an intention of tricking the targets into clicking on links, triggering the infections. 
 
In regards to the recent attacks, Citizen Lab stated, “These latest cases, which come years after the first revelations of problematic Pegasus targeting in Mexico, illustrate the abuse potential of mercenary spyware in a context of flawed public accountability and transparency. Even in the face of global scrutiny, domestic outcry, and a new administration that pledged to never use spyware, the targeting of journalists and human rights defenders with Pegasus spyware continued in Mexico.”
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User Privacy
data security Malicious Apps Mobile Security Mobile Spyware User Privacy

Facestealer Trojan Identified in More than 200 Apps on Google Play

 

Cybersecurity researchers at TrendMicro have identified more than 200 applications on Google Play distributing spyware called Facestealer used to steal user credentials and other sensitive data, including private keys. The worrying thing is that the number and popularity of these types of applications are increasing day by day, with some even being installed over a hundred thousand times. 

Some malicious applications that users should uninstall immediately include: Daily Fitness OL, Enjoy Photo Editor, Panorama Camera, Photo Gaming Puzzle, Swarm Photo, Business Meta Manager, and Cryptomining Farm Your Own Coin. 

Facestealer, first identified by Doctor Web in July 2021, steals Facebook information from users via malicious apps on Google Play, then uses it to infiltrate Facebook accounts, serving purposes such as scams, fake posts, and advertising bots. Similar to the Joker malware, Facestealer changes its code frequently and has multiple variations. 

"Similar to Joker, another piece of mobile malware, Facestealer changes its code frequently, thus spawning many variants," Cifer Fang, Ford Quin, and Zhengyu Dong researchers at Trend Micro stated in a new report. "Since its discovery, the spyware has continuously beleaguered Google Play." 

Since being denounced until now, the malicious apps have continuously appeared on Google Play under different guises. For example, Daily Fitness OL is ostensibly a fitness app, but its main goal is to steal Facebook data. Once the application is launched, it will send a request to download the encryption configuration. When the user logs into Facebook, the application opens a WebView browser to load the URL from the downloaded profile. 

Subsequently, a piece of JavaScript code is embedded in the web page to get the login data. After the user is successfully logged into the account, the application collects the cookie, then encrypts all the personally identifiable information (PII) and sends it to the remote server. 

In addition, TrendMicro researchers unearthed 40 fake cryptocurrency miner apps that are variants of similar apps that they discovered in August 2021. The apps trick users into subscribing to paid services or clicking on advertisements. 

To mitigate the risks, users should carefully read reviews from people who have downloaded them before. However, this is also not the optimal solution because many applications will hire highly appreciated services, for example, Photo Gaming Puzzle is rated 4.5 stars, and Enjoy Photo Editor is rated 4.1 stars. Enjoy Photo Editor surpassed 100,000 downloads before Google kicked it out of PlayStore.
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spyware and malware
Android Android Applications Android Spyware cyber espionage Cyberespionage Operation DarkMarket findlocation geolocation malware Mobile Security Mobile Spyware spyware and malware

Every Tenth Stalking and Espionage Attack in the World is Directed at Android Users from Russia

 

According to analysts at ESET (an international developer of antivirus software headquartered in Slovakia), commercial developers who openly offer spyware to control spouses or children are gaining popularity. 

"ESET global telemetry data for the period from September to December 2021 shows an increase in spyware activity by more than 20%. At the same time, every tenth stalking and espionage attack in the world is directed at Android users from Russia," the company's press service reported. 

ESET threat researcher Lukas Stefanko reported that unwanted stalking software, according to him, in most cases is distributed by attackers through clones of legal applications downloaded from unofficial stores. 

Alexander Dvoryansky, Director of Special Projects at Angara Security, confirms that Android spyware is very common and continues to gain popularity. According to him, it is advantageous for attackers to develop malicious software for this operating system because of its widespread use. Android smartphones accounted for 84.5% of total device sales in 2021. 

According to Lucas Stefanko, it is not uncommon for stalker software to be installed on smartphones to track them in case they are stolen or lost. Despite Google's ban on advertising stalker apps, there are apps available on Google Play that are positioned as private detective or parental control tools. In 2018, the Supreme Court allowed the acquisition and use of spy equipment to ensure their own security, so the demand for software promoted as "monitoring one's mobile devices" has increased. But many install it covertly on the phones of relatives or employees for espionage. 

If the program is installed on the phone openly and with the consent of a person, then there will be nothing illegal in tracking geolocation, as well as obtaining other information, says lawyer KA Pen & Paper by Alexander Kharin. However, secretly installing a spyware program on a phone can result in a penalty of up to two years in prison, and for a developer, the term can be up to four years. But so far, criminal cases on the fact of stalking are rarely initiated. 

Earlier, CySecurity News reported that the exact location of any Russian on the black market can be found for about 130 dollars.
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Spyware
Apple Cytrox Facebook iPhone Iphone Spying Meta Mobile Security Mobile Spyware Pegasus spying Spyware

Citizen Lab Exposes Cytrox as Vendor Behind 'Predator' iPhone Spyware

 

The University of Toronto's Citizen Lab has found yet another player in the private sector mobile spyware market, citing a small North Macedonian firm called Cytrox as the maker of high-end iPhone implants. 

Citizen Lab worked with Facebook parent company Meta's threat-intelligence team to expose Cytrox and a handful of other PSOAs (private sector offensive actors) in the murky surveillance-for-hire industry. Citizen Lab stated that Cytrox is behind a piece of iPhone spying malware that was put on the phones of two prominent Egyptians, according to a detailed technical analysis published. 

Predator, the malware, was able to infect the most recent iOS version (14.6) utilising single URLs provided via WhatsApp. Exiled Egyptian politician Ayman Nour was spooked by his iPhone overheating, and later discovered evidence of two different spyware applications running on the device, administered by two different government APT actors. 

The Egyptian government, a known Cytrox customer, has been attributed with the attack, according to Citizen Lab. Nour's phone was infected with both Cytrox's Predator and Israeli vendor NSO Group's more well-known Pegasus spyware, according to Citizen Lab. Citizen Lab's exposé detailed Cytrox's background as a startup launched in 2017 by Ivo Malinkovksi, a North Macedonian who later integrated the company with Intellexa and publicly hawked digital forensics tools. The firm claims to be established in the European Union, with R&D labs and sites all over Europe. 

In a separate advisory published by Meta’s security team, Cytrox is listed alongside Cobwebs Technologies, Cognate, Black Cupe, Bluehawk CI, BellTroX and two unknown Chinese entities among a growing roster of private companies in the surveillance-for-hire business. 

These firms handle the reconnaissance, engagement, and exploitation phases of advanced malware campaigns for governments and law enforcement agencies all across the world, including those that target journalists, politicians, and other members of civil society. 

Cytrox was recognised as a company that "develops exploits and sells surveillance tools and viruses that enable its clients to compromise iOS and Android devices," as per Facebook's team. 

Facebook’s security team stated, “[We were] able to find a vast domain infrastructure that we believe Cytrox used to spoof legitimate news entities in the countries of their interest and mimic legitimate URL-shortening and social media service.” 

“They used these domains as part of their phishing and compromise campaigns. Cytrox and its customers took steps to tailor their attacks for particular targets by only infecting people with malware when they passed certain technical checks, including IP address and device type. If the checks failed, people could be redirected to legitimate news or other websites.” 

“Targets of Cytrox and its customers included politicians and journalists around the world, including in Egypt and Armenia.”
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User Privacy
Data Leak Mobile Security Mobile Spyware Stalkerware User Privacy

Thousands of Users Smartphone Data Leaked by a Stalkerware

 

Hundreds of thousands of users' sensitive phone data is in danger. Due to a security flaw in commonly deployed consumer spyware, call logs, text messages, pictures, browser history, accurate geolocations, and call recordings might be easily retrieved from a user's phone. 

TechCrunch regularly emailed the developer, whose name is unknown, using all available and non-public email accounts, but still, the lines of inquiry to uncover the problem have fallen by the wayside. 

Attempts have been made to approach the spyware creator since the security and privacy of thousands of people are jeopardized until the issue is resolved. The spyware or its creator hasn't been identified since doing so would simplify things for cybercriminals to access users' private vulnerable data. 

The security vulnerability was found as part of a broader consumer spyware study by TechCrunch. These programs, which are frequently advertised as kid tracking or monitoring software, are also known as "stalkerware" due to their capacity to follow and spy on people without their knowledge. Such spyware programs discreetly and continually redirect a person's phone contents, allowing its owner to follow a person's movements and whom they communicate with. Most people will be unaware that their smartphones have been hacked because these applications are intended to disappear from home screens to evade discovery or deletion. 

TechCrunch further reached out to Codero, the web business that hosts the developer's spyware technology, but the company didn't answer numerous requests seeking comment. Codero is no newcomer to stalkerware hosting; in 2019, the web host "took action" against stalkerware producer Mobiispy after it was discovered spewing thousands of pictures and audio recordings. 

“I’m disappointed, but not even a little surprised,” Eva Galperin, director of cybersecurity for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. “I think we could reasonably characterize this type of behavior as negligent. Not only do we have a company that is making a product that enables abuse, but they are doing such a poor job of protecting the information that is being exfiltrated that they are opening the targets of this abuse to even greater abuse." 

Due to the obvious widespread availability of this simple-to-obtain malware, an industry-wide campaign was launched to combat it. Antivirus companies have tried to enhance the detection of stalkerware, and Google has also prohibited spyware companies from marketing their wares as a method to spy on a spouse's phone, but some developers are employing innovative techniques to circumvent the prohibition. 

Mobile spyware has a long history of security issues. Over a dozen stalkerware companies, including mSpy, Mobistealth, Flexispy, and other Family orbits, have been discovered to have been hijacked, leaked data, or compromised data on people's phones in recent times. 

KidsGuard, another stalkerware, had a security issue that revealed information on thousands of people's phones, and, more recently, pcTattleTale, which advertises itself as competent in spying on a spouse's device, was exposing screenshots via easy-to-guess URL addresses. 

The Federal Trade Commission prohibited SpyFone, a stalkerware software that also revealed the phone data of over 2,000 users, in September and required users to be notified that their devices had been compromised.
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User Security
iOS malware Mobile Spyware Pegasus spyware and malware surveillance User Security

iPhones of Al Jazeera Journalists Being Snooped On Via Israeli Firm's Spyware

 

iPhones of around 36 Journalists at Al Jazeera news organisation have been hacked by nation-sponsored hackers who sent malware laden iMessages. The attackers who are suspected to be backed by the governments of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, exploited a zero-day vulnerability in iMessage which was later fixed by Apple. 

In a technical report, experts have stated that the Journalists' iPhones were snooped on by attackers who employed NSO's Pegasus software to deploy spyware onto the iPhones of 36 journalists, executives and producers at the news agency, Al Jazeera. 

Pegasus is a modular malware developed by the Israeli firm NSO which is used for surveillance purposes and has also been linked to surveillance abuse at multiple occasions. The spyware allows hosts to remotely monitor and exploit devices. Reportedly, the attack took place invisibly and it didn't require the attackers to trick the victims into clicking on a malicious link – as opposed to conventional ways of deploying malware. 

While examining one of the victim's device, researchers discovered that spyware was deployed secretly through iMessage and was able to take images using iPhone's camera, access passwords, and victim's location. Besides, it's likely that the spyware was also recording phone calls and microphone.  

As per the researchers at Citizen Lab, a total of four operators belonging to Pegasus were observed to have assisted the hack. Two of the operators namely SNEAKY KESTREL and MONARCHY are suspected to be having links with the governments of Middle Eastern countries; to the UAE and Saudi Arabia, respectively.  

According to the reports by Citizen Lab, "In July and August 2020, government operatives used NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware to hack 36 personal phones belonging to journalists, producers, anchors, and executives at Al Jazeera. The personal phone of a journalist at London-based Al Araby TV was also hacked." 

"The phones were compromised using an exploit chain that we call KISMET, which appears to involve an invisible zero-click exploit in iMessage. In July 2020, KISMET was a zero-day against at least iOS 13.5.1 and could hack Apple’s then-latest iPhone 11." 

"We do not believe that KISMET works against iOS 14 and above, which includes new security protections. All iOS device owners should immediately update to the latest version of the operating system," the report further read.
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WhatsApp Call
Android Security App vulnerability Mobile Spyware Phone hacking WhatsApp WhatsApp Call

All it takes a WhatsApp call for the spyware to enter your phone


It’s been a day of high-profile security incidents. First there was news the popular WhatsApp messenger app was hacked. Updated versions of WhatsApp have been released, which you should install if you’re one of the more than one billion people who use the app.

WhatsApp has confirmed that a security flaw in the app let attackers install spy software on their targets' smartphones. The spyware install on a host phone via a WhatsApp call. The spyware deletes all WhatsApp call logs to become untraceable.

On Wednesday, chip-maker Intel confirmed that new problems discovered with some of its processors could reveal secret information to attacks.

What's scary about this spyware is that it can slip on any WhatsApp users' smartphone without giving the slightest clue that their devices have been infected. All it takes is a WhatsApp call.

The WhatsApp news was revealed first by the Financial Times, which says the bug was used in an attempt to access content on the phone of a UK-based human rights lawyer.

That has left many of its 1.5 billion users wondering how safe the "simple and secure" messaging app really is. How trustworthy are apps and devices?

No. Messages on WhatsApp are end-to-end encrypted, meaning they are scrambled when they leave the sender's device. The messages can be decrypted by the recipient's device only.

WhatsApp is arguably one of the most popular social messaging apps in the world. In the recent times, the Facebook-owned social messaging app has been under fire owing to the rampant spread of misinformation on its platform. But never has the app been under seige by a malware. That is until now.

WhatsApp has rolled out an update to its servers. It has also rolled out a security patch on to its Android and iOS apps to safeguard your phone data. Software patches have been released by several vendors, including Microsoft. You should install security updates from vendors promptly, including these.
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WhatsApp
Israel Mobile Spyware NSO Group WhatsApp

WhatsApp vulnerability let attackers install Israeli Spyware on phones





A new vulnerability discovered in the WhatsApp allowed attackers install a malicious code on iPhones and Android phones by ringing up a target device.

“A buffer overflow vulnerability in WhatsApp VOIP stack allowed remote code execution via specially crafted series of SRTCP packets sent to a target phone number,” WhatsApp said. 

The company discovered the vulnerability and later issued a security patch, although till now, it is not known how many people have been affected by this. 

According to the reports, the attackers targeted the device by just placing a call, even if you didn’t answered a call, the malicious code could be transmitted to your phone and a log of the call often disappeared. 

WhatsApp is urging all its users to upgrade their app after it released a software update yesterday. 

'We believe a select number of users were targeted through this vulnerability by an advanced cyber actor,' WhatsApp told the Financial Times.

'This attack has all the hallmarks of a private company known to work with governments to deliver spyware that reportedly takes over the functions of mobile phone operating systems.

As per the Financial Times reports, the spyware was developed by NSO Group, an Israeli cybersecurity and intelligence company.


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Sensitive data Leaked
Mobile Spyware Sensitive data Leaked

Mobile Spyware Maker mSpy Leaks Millions of Sensitive Records



Security researcher Nitish Shah uncovered a data leak by a Mobile Spyware Maker mSpy that claims to help in excess of a million paying clients keep an eye on the cell phones of their children and partners.

mSpy has leaked millions of sensitive records online, including passwords, call logs, text messages, contacts, notes and area information furtively gathered from phones running the stealthy spyware. He likewise saw that there was no requirement for any verification in order to reach for the records.
As per Shah, the exposed data additionally incorporated the most recent a half year records of mSpy license purchases with the mSpy client logs, alongside the Apple iCloud information of gadgets and devices with the spyware installed on them.


A list of data points that can be slurped from a mobile device that is secretly running mSpy’s software.

Shah later added that when he attempted to alert mSpy of his discoveries; the organization's support personnel disregarded him.

 “I was chatting with their live support, until they blocked me when I asked them to get me in contact with their CTO or head of security,” Shah said.

Later KrebsOnSecurity alerted mSpy about the exposed database on Aug. 30. To which they responded an email from mSpy’s chief security officer, who gave only his first name, “Andrew.”

“We have been working hard to secure our system from any possible leaks, attacks, and private information disclosure. All our customers’ accounts are securely encrypted and the data is being wiped out once in a short period of time. Thanks to you we have prevented this possible breach and from what we could discover the data you are talking about could be some amount of customers’ emails and possibly some other data. However, we could only find that there were only a few points of access and activity with the data.” Andrew wrote.

In any case though, this isn't the first time when mSpy is being considered responsible of a release that brought about the leak of the sensitive records of millions of its clients. As it had likewise occurred in May 2015, that KrebsOnSecurity broke the news that mSpy had been hacked and its client/customer information was posted on the Dark Web.

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