Pegasus: Report shows spyware continues to infect mobile phones

A security tool launched by iVerify has detected new infections of the Pegasus spyware, which became famous for its use against activists, lawyers, journalists, politicians and government officials. Among the victims of the malware, Now there are business leadersAccording to a report published yesterday (04).

Mobile Threat Hunting, available since May, uses malware signatures, heuristics, and machine learning to scan Android and iOS devices for malicious activity. The company took and analyzed 2,500 mobile phone scans from people using the solution in recent months.

The results showed Seven iPhones were infected by Israeli company NSO Group’s spy programOne of these occurred in late 2023 on a newer mobile phone with iOS 16.6, and the other occurred in November 2022 on iOS 15. Others are dated 2021 and 2022 on devices with iOS 14 and 15.

According to iVerify, iPhones infected with Pegasus may be monitored without their owners’ knowledge because spyware detection is difficult with traditional tools. Among the victims were two police officers who were part of the campaign team of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in the American elections.

commercial espionage

It appears that spyware is beginning to be used in commercial espionage campaigns as well as traditional targets. according to TechCrunch, One of the victims identified by Mobile Threat Hunting is the leader of a large company.

iVerify CEO Rocky Cole said he contacted the executive to inform him about the presence of the spy program on his iPhone, and that the user was “completely surprised” after receiving the information. The identity of the victim and the name of the company he worked for were not disclosed.

When contacted by the publication, NSO Group emphasized: Pegasus is sold only to intelligence and law enforcement agencies of Israel and US-allied countries.. However, the developer did not say whether the program could also be used to monitor private sector executives.