It is now possible to ‘hack’ an iPhone by sending a simple text message

By: MRT Desk

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The New York Times reporter Ben Hubbard published on October 24 a Article In which you claim that hackers were able to access your private information on your iPhone after simply texting you in 2020 and 2021.

Hubbard discovered this after consulting with Citizen Lab, a research institute at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto (Canada) that studies spy software.

The ‘hackers’ used a piece of ‘software’ called a zero-click exploit to enter the phone by sending it a text message and no need Hubbard accessing any suspicious links. “It’s like being robbed by a ghost“, says the reporter.

Citizen Lab was able to trace the source of the text to spyware called Pegasus, created by the NSO Group, an Israel-based software developer that has previously been linked to mobile phone hacking scandals.

The rise of the spy software industry

Hubbard claims he was the victim of a “run-in” with the growing global spyware industry, which sells surveillance tools to governments to help them fight crime and track down terrorists.

However, the reporter points out that these companies “they operate in the shadows, in a market that is largely unregulated, allowing States to deploy technology as they wish, even against activists and journalists“.

Hubbard and Citizen Lab believe that the hacks could have been carried out by the Saudi government, a country it has reported on for a long time.

“I have been writing about Saudi Arabia for years and published a book last year about Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of the kingdom, so Saudi Arabia could have reasons to want to look inside my phone, “said the journalist.

Hubbard’s story has set off alarms and rekindled concern about hackers, who already have sophisticated tools that allow them to hack into devices by sending text messages. Apparently, it is no longer enough for the user to ignore suspicious links, so the experts call on Apple and other companies that develop ‘smartphones’ to carry out updates operating systems that protect your customers from these new threats.

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