The Israeli company NSO Group now claims to have a monitoring tool that enables the reading of iCloud data.
According to a new report, Apple is facing a new security threat. According to initial information, the Israeli spyware Pegasus can now also read iCloud data - despite two-factor authentication. The tool has been able to read iPhone devices for some time - but iCloud has not been affected so far. In addition to Apple's cloud service, Google services are also said to be affected. The new version of Pegasus can supposedly even read installed third-party applications with an encrypted connection. The spyware is allegedly only sold by the NSO Group to governments to help with investigations. However, there are fears that this tool will also end up on the black market and fall into the wrong hands. Observers are also worried that governments could also misuse Pegasus for other purposes.
man-in-the-middle attack
The new version of the Pegasus software is said to be able to capture and copy the authentication tokens used for services such as iCloud. It can then create a man-in-the-middle attack and pretend to be the device of the actual owner. It makes requests to the origin server to gain access to the data contained therein. Pegasus can then access all data from the iCloud - this means that in addition to various login information, messages and other things can also be downloaded. The hack can apparently be carried out quietly and does not require two-factor authentication - nor is there a warning message displayed, as is usually the case with a normal login. The vulnerability does not only affect iPhones - iPads, tablets, third-party smartphones and laptops can also be tapped. In a statement to the Financial Times, Apple did not deny that such a tool could exist. However, the company does not believe that the general public is at risk. The NSO Group was previously responsible for the widespread WhatsApp hack which became known in mid-May this year. 3 months Kindle Unlimited membership for 0.00€ – only for a limited time (Photo by Unsplash)