The iPhones of at least nine employees of the Department of State of the United States were hacked by a hacker who used sophisticated spyware developed by NSO Group, based in Israel, according to four sources close to the matter.
The attacks, which took place in recent months, affected Uganda-based officials or they focused on issues related to the East African country, two of the sources said.
The intrusions represent the most extensive known attacks on US officials using the technology of NSO Group. Reuters could not determine who launched the latest cyber attacks.
NSO Group It said in a statement Thursday that it had no indication that its tools had been used, but canceled the relevant accounts and said it would carry out an investigation based on the Reuters report.
“If our investigation shows that these actions actually happened with the NSO tools, said user will be permanently fired and legal action will be taken,” said an NSO spokesperson, adding that the company will also “cooperate with any relevant government authority and will present the information that we will have. “
NSO Group It has long said that it only sells its products to intelligence clients and government agencies, helping them monitor security threats, and is not directly involved in surveillance operations.
An Apple spokesperson declined to comment.
A spokesperson for the Department of State declined to comment on the intrusions, instead pointing to the recent decision by the Department of Commerce to place the Israeli company on an entity list, making it difficult for US companies to do business with them.
NSO Group and another spyware company were “added to the list on the grounds that they developed and supplied spyware to foreign governments that used this tool to maliciously target government officials, journalists, businessmen, activists, academics and embassy workers,” the official said. Department of Commerce last month.
Software NSO Group It is capable of not only capturing encrypted messages, photos and other confidential information from infected phones, but also turning them into recording devices to monitor the surroundings, according to product manuals reviewed by Reuters.
The alert of Apple the affected users did not identify the creator of the spyware used.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx