A Canadian digital watchdog warned Apple users on Thursday after discovering spyware linked to the Israeli company NSO that exploits a recently discovered device vulnerability.
According to a statement issued by the organization, Citizen Lab discovered that a member of a civil society organization with headquarters in Washington had their Apple device infected with NSO’s Pegasus spyware through this flaw. The organization urges users to remain careful.
“This shows that civil society is once again serving as the early warning system about really sophisticated attacks,” said John Scott-Railton, senior researcher at Citizen Lab, based at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy.
However, Citizen Lab stopped short of identifying the entity or the affected person.
The digital watchdog claims that the flaw makes it possible to compromise iPhone devices running the most recent version of iOS (16.6) without the victim’s knowledge.
After looking into the issues raised by Citizen Lab, Apple changed its products, but a spokesman for the tech giant declined to comment further.
Citizen Lab, however, suggested that users update their gadgets.
Al-Arabiya reported that an NSO representative also said there were no immediate comments regarding the Citizen Lab findings.
The US government has blacklisted the Israeli company since 2021 following the alleged abuses, including the surveillance of journalists and government officials as a precautionary measure.
Following the alleged violations, which included the precautionary surveillance of journalists and government officials, the US government blacklisted the Israeli company in 2021.