We explain how you can do that in How to install the iOS beta on your iPhone. NSO Group says Pegasus can also be installed on devices using wireless transceivers located near the target, or booted directly on the device if it is stolen first.If you can’t wait until then you could join the Public Beta program and install iOS 17 now. More recently, NSO began exploiting vulnerabilities in Apple’s iMessage software, giving it backdoor access to hundreds of millions of iPhones.Īpple says it continually updates its software to prevent such attacks, although human rights group Amnesty says it has discovered successful attacks on even the most up-to-date iOS systems. Users became infected when a call was made to their phone via WhatsApp, regardless of whether they answered the call or not. Pegasus can also be used to take over the phone’s camera or microphone to record video and audio, and access GPS data to monitor where the phone’s owner has been.Īnd it can also be used to record new incoming or outgoing phone calls.Įarly versions of the virus-infected phones used crude ‘phishing’ attacks where users were tricked into downloading the virus to their own phones by clicking a malicious link sent via text message or email.īut researchers say the software has become much more sophisticated, exploiting vulnerabilities in common phone apps to launch so-called “zero-click” attacks that can infect devices without the user doing anything.įor example, WhatsApp revealed in 2019 that 1,400 people had been infected by software from NSO Group using a so-called ‘zero day’ flaw – a previously unknown flaw – in the app’s calling function. This includes access to contact lists, emails and text messages, along with stored photos, videos and audio files.
While most spyware is limited in scope – only collecting data from specific parts of an infected system – Pegasus appears to be much more powerful, giving the controller virtually unlimited access and control over an infected device.
This specific form of malware is known as ‘spyware’, which means it is designed to collect data from an infected device without the owner’s knowledge and forward it to a third party. Pegasus is a powerful piece of ‘malware’ – malicious computer software – developed by the Israeli security company NSO Group.
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