London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Oct 18, 2025

Your iPhone is not secure and never was. Apple users urged to download Pegasus spyware flaw fix

Your iPhone is not secure and never was. Apple users urged to download Pegasus spyware flaw fix

Apple force their users to I have iMessage and FaceTime apps that allow others to spy on you, open your camera and microphone remotely, listen to your conversations and copy all your chat history phonies and videos to be installed in iPhones without ability to remove them, disable them or limit their access to all the phone content. Apple do not allow users to delete from their phone those 2 problematic apps, as their marketing interest is against the users safety and privacy interest. USA and UK cannot do nothing against it as this is not Russian or Chinese hackers but friendly hackers that are above the US and UK laws.

In case you prefer to keep using iPhone despite their poor security flaw, Apple users urged at list to update their devices after the tech giant announced a fix for a major software flaw that allows the Pegasus spyware to be installed on phones without so much as a click.

Apple said Monday that it had "rapidly" developed a software update after Citizen Lab alerted it to the hole in its iMessage software on Sept 7.

"Attacks like the ones described are highly sophisticated, cost millions of dollars to develop, often have a short shelf life, and are used to target specific individuals," the company said.

Citizen Lab said it was urging people "to immediately update all Apple devices".



- Intimate surveillance -

Explosive revelations that governments have spied on people using the hugely invasive software -- which was developed by the NSO Group, a secretive Israeli firm -- have ricocheted around the world since July.

Once Pegasus is installed on a phone, it can be used to read a target's messages, look at their photos, track their movements and even switch on their camera -- all without the person knowing.

The flaw fixed by Apple on Monday is a so-called "zero-click exploit", meaning that it can be installed on a device without the owner needing to do so much as click a button.

Less sophisticated spyware tools have generally required the target to click on a booby-trapped link or file in order to start tapping the person's communications.

Citizen Lab said it believed the flaw, which it named FORCEDENTRY, had been used to install Pegasus on devices since February 2021 or possibly earlier.

It is a variant of a weak spot in Apple's messaging software that Citizen Lab previously detected on the iPhones of nine Bahraini activists, who were hacked with Pegasus between June 2020 and February this year.

"Popular chat apps are the soft underbelly of device security. They are on every device," tweeted John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at Citizen Lab who helped uncover the flaw.

The messaging service WhatsApp was previously also allegedly used to infiltrate phones using Pegasus, and its owner Facebook is suing the NSO Group.

The security of messaging apps "needs to be a top priority," Scott-Railton added, urging his followers: "UPDATE YOUR APPLE DEVICES NOW."



- 'Fighting crime' -

NSO, the company at the heart of the scandal, has denied any wrongdoing and insisted its software is intended for use by authorities only in fighting terrorism and other crimes.

But the company, which says it has clients in 45 countries, did not dispute that Pegasus had prompted Apple's urgent software upgrade.

It said in a statement that it would "continue to provide intelligence and law enforcement agencies around the world with life saving technologies to fight terror and crime."

Citizen Lab, which first uncovered Pegasus alongside cybersecurity firm Lookout five years ago, accuses NSO of selling the software to authoritarian governments that use it for repressive purposes.

Emerging economies such as India, Mexico and Azerbaijan dominated the list of countries where large numbers of phone numbers were allegedly identified as possible targets by NSO's clients.

Since July, the scandal has prompted calls from rights groups for an international moratorium on the sale of surveillance technology until regulations are put in place to prevent abuses.

That call was backed by United Nations human rights experts last month.

"It is highly dangerous and irresponsible to allow the surveillance technology and trade sector to operate as a human rights-free zone," they said.

Israel's defense establishment has meanwhile set up a committee to review NSO's business, including the process through which export licences are granted.


- The problem is not NSO. The problem is Apple. 

NSO is not the only company that selling iPhone backdoor sand spying services all over the world. There are at list more 20 companies that doing it. 

Attacking NSO is wrong. They only using their knowledge to access what Apple enables to be open for back doors.

Apple do not allow to remove their most venerable softwares, iMessage and FaceTime, and iPhone users have no choice but to have it installed even if they do not want it.

The fastest solution is to change your iPhone to Android phone. The temporary, limited and minor solution is to update your iOS to the latest version. It will not protect your phone from all hackers, but will close one well known backdoor from the few that NSO and other companies are selling to hack iPhones and other iOS devices. 



Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
×