Category Archives: spyware

Meta takes down 7 hacking-for-hire operations that targeted 50,000 users

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Meta removed seven “surveillance-for-hire” organizations that used Facebook to target at least 50,000 individuals across 100 countries for surveillance operations, some of which included the deployment of spyware, the company announced in a report Thursday. The operation marked a major step in efforts by the social media company against a sprawling surveillance industry that Facebook security experts warn is becoming more “democratized” and easily accessible to spy on not just high-profile targets, but ordinary users. The company removed hundreds of accounts belonging to firms known as Israeli Cobwebs Technologies, Cognyte, Black Cube, Bluehawk CI, India-based BellTroX, Macedonia-based Cytrox, and an unknown entity in China. Of the seven firms, only Cobwebs and Cognyte did not engage in what it called “exploitation” phase activities, or actually delivering malware to hack victims. Facebook sent cease and desist letters to the six named companies. Facebook has clashed with the growing spyware market for years. […]

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PseudoManuscrypt: a mass-scale spyware attack campaign

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Kaspersky ICS CERT experts identified malware whose loader has some similarities to the Manuscrypt malware, which is part of the Lazarus APT group’s arsenal. Continue reading PseudoManuscrypt: a mass-scale spyware attack campaign→

NSO Group’s latest spyware on par with nation-state abilities, researchers say

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When Apple announced Nov. 23 that it filed a lawsuit against Israeli spyware firm NSO Group, it claimed that the firm and its clients “devote the immense resources and capabilities of nation-states to conduct highly targeted cyberattacks.” An independent analysis published Wednesday backs that claim up. Google Project Zero researchers Ian Beer and Samuel Groß took a deep dive into FORCEDENTRY, the malware developed by NSO Group that allowed adversaries to infect targeted Apple devices — without the owner’s knowledge — with NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware. The researchers concluded that it’s “one of the most technically sophisticated exploits” they’ve ever seen, rivaling “those previously thought to be accessible to only a handful of nation states.” Previous iterations of the Pegasus software required the victim to click a link in an SMS message. But FORCEDENTRY was an example of NSO Group’s zero-click exploitation technology, where no interaction from the target was […]

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NSO Group’s Pegasus Spyware Used Against US State Department Officials

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NSO Group’s descent into Internet pariah status continues. Its Pegasus spyware was used against nine US State Department employees. We don’t know which NSO Group customer trained the spyware on the US. But the company does:

NSO Group said in a statement on Thursday that it did not have any indication their tools were used but canceled access for the relevant customers and would investigate based on the Reuters inquiry.

“If our investigation shall show these actions indeed happened with NSO’s tools, such customer will be terminated permanently and legal actions will take place,” said an NSO spokesperson, who added that NSO will also “cooperate with any relevant government authority and present the full information we will have.”…

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iPhones of 9 State Dept officials hijacked by NSO Pegasus spyware

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By Deeba Ahmed
It has been revealed that NSO Group’s Pegasus malware was used to spy on U.S. government officials over the past few months.
This is a post from HackRead.com Read the original post: iPhones of 9 State Dept officials hijacked by NSO Pegas… Continue reading iPhones of 9 State Dept officials hijacked by NSO Pegasus spyware→

NSO Group tech reportedly used to hack US officials’ iPhones

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Nearly a dozen iPhones associated with U.S. State Department employees were hacked using spyware developed by Israel-based NSO Group, Reuters first reported Friday. The attacks were carried out in the last several months by an unknown assailant on U.S. officials either based in Uganda or focused on the country, sources told Reuters. The Washington Post and CNN also confirmed the intrusions. Previous reporting on NSO Group suggested that U.S. officials’ phones may have been targeted using software developed by NSO Group, but Friday’s report is the first to confirm successful breaches. As many as 11 U.S. diplomats received notices from Apple that they may have been targeted with the spyware, the Post reported. Apple began notifying potential targets around the world that they may have been targeted by the NSO Group software on Nov. 23, the same day the tech firm announced a lawsuit against NSO Group for allegedly violating […]

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