Apple sues NSO Group to curb the abuse of state-sponsored spyware

Apple also announced a donation of $10 million to support cyber surveillance researchers and advocates

Apple in Cupertino, California filed a lawsuit against NSO Group and its parent company today, demanding that it be responsible for the surveillance and location of Apple users. The complaint provides new information about how the NSO Group used its Pegasus spyware to infect victims' devices. In order to prevent further abuse and harm to its users, Apple also seeks a permanent injunction prohibiting NSO Group from using any Apple software, services or equipment.

NSO Group has developed advanced, state-sponsored surveillance technology that enables its highly targeted spyware to monitor its victims. These attacks only target a very small number of users, and they affect people across multiple platforms, including iOS and Android. Researchers and journalists have publicly documented the history of the spyware being abused to target journalists, activists, dissidents, academics and government officials. 1

"State-funded participants like the NSO Group spent millions of dollars on sophisticated surveillance technology without effective accountability. This needs to change," said Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of software engineering. "Apple devices are the safest consumer hardware on the market-but private companies that develop state-sponsored spyware have become more dangerous. Although these cybersecurity threats only affect a very small number of our customers, we attach great importance to our users. For any attack, we have been working hard to strengthen the security and privacy protection in iOS to ensure the safety of all our users."

Forced use by NSO Group

Apple’s legal complaint provides new information about NSO Group’s FORCEDENTRY, which exploits a now patched vulnerability that was previously used to invade victims’ Apple devices and install the latest version of NSO Group’s spyware product Pegasus. The vulnerability was first discovered by the Citizen Lab, a research team at the University of Toronto.

The spyware is used to attack a small number of Apple users worldwide through dangerous malware and spyware. Apple's lawsuit aims to prohibit NSO Group from further harming individuals through the use of Apple's products and services. The lawsuit also seeks to remedy NSO Group’s blatant violations of U.S. federal and state laws due to its efforts to target and attack Apple and its users.

NSO Group and its customers invest the huge resources and capabilities of the nation-state into highly targeted cyber attacks, enabling them to access microphones, cameras, and other sensitive data on Apple and Android devices. In order to transmit FORCEDENTRY to Apple devices, the attacker created an Apple ID to send malicious data to the victim's device-allowing NSO Group or its customers to transmit and install Pegasus spyware without the victim's knowledge. Although it was misused to provide FORCEDENTRY, Apple servers were not hacked or hacked in the attack.

Apple manufactures the most secure mobile devices on the market and continuously invests to strengthen the privacy and security protection of its users. For example, researchers have found that malware infection rates on other mobile platforms are 15 times that of iPhones. 2 A recent study showed that less than 2% of mobile malware targets iOS devices. 3

iOS 15 includes many new security protection measures, including a major upgrade to the BlastDoor security mechanism. Despite the continuous development of NSO Group spyware, Apple has not observed any evidence of successful remote attacks against devices running iOS 15 and later. Apple urges all users to update their iPhones and always use the latest software.

"At Apple, we have been committed to protecting our users from the most sophisticated cyber attacks. The steps we take today will send a clear message: in a free society, weaponize powerful state-backed spyware with It is unacceptable to confront those who seek to make the world a better place," said Ivan Krstić, head of security engineering at Apple and Construction. "Our threat intelligence and engineering teams work around the clock to analyze new threats, quickly patch vulnerabilities, and develop industry-leading new protections in our software and chips. Apple operates one of the most complex security engineering operations in the world. We will continue to work tirelessly to protect our users from state-sponsored abusers such as the NSO Group."

Apple continues to work hard to protect its users

Apple commends organizations such as Citizen Lab and Amnesty Tech for their pioneering work in identifying abuses of network surveillance and helping protect victims. In order to further strengthen such efforts, Apple will donate $10 million and any losses caused by the lawsuit to organizations engaged in network surveillance research and promotion.

Apple will also support Citizen Lab’s accomplished researchers through pro bono technology, threat intelligence, and engineering assistance to help them complete independent research tasks and, where appropriate, provide the same to other organizations doing critical work in this field. s help.

Ron Deibert, director of the Citizens Laboratory at the University of Toronto, said: “Spyware companies like NSO Group have contributed to some of the world’s most serious human rights violations and transnational repression, while making themselves and their investors rich.” “I. I applaud Apple for holding them accountable for their abuses, and hope that Apple’s doing so will help bring justice to all those who are victims of NSO Group’s reckless behavior."

Apple is notifying a small number of users that it has discovered that it may have become a target of FORCEDENTRY. Whenever Apple discovers activities consistent with a state-backed spyware attack, Apple will notify affected users in accordance with industry best practices.

Apple believes that privacy is a basic human right, and security is the focus of the entire company team. Over the years, Apple has led the industry to introduce new protection measures to interrupt complex attacks and protect its users, including pointer authentication code (PAC), BlastDoor, and page protection layer (PPL) functions. For more information on Apple platform security, please visit support.apple.com/guide/security/welcome/web.

Apple introduced the Macintosh in 1984, revolutionizing personal technology. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Apple's five software platforms-iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS-provide a seamless experience across all Apple devices and provide people with breakthrough services, including App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud. Apple’s more than 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products in the world and making the world a better place than we found.

Apple introduced the Macintosh in 1984, revolutionizing personal technology. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Apple's five software platforms-iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS-provide a seamless experience across all Apple devices and provide people with breakthrough services, including App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud. Apple’s more than 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products in the world and making the world a better place than we found.

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