UAE activist discovers dangerous iPhone spyware

A human rights activist almost fell victim to a spyware attack on his iPhone, which could have given hackers free reign to his personal data, eavesdrop on calls, activate his phone camera and much more

A human rights activist almost fell victim to a spyware attack on his iPhone, which could have given hackers free reign to his personal data, eavesdrop on calls, activate his phone camera and much more. The spyware was disguised as a link promising to reveal details regarding torture at UAE's prisons.

The activist named Ahmed Mansoor, who lived in downtown Ajman, a small city-state in the United Arab Emirates reported the link to internet watchdog, Citizen Lab, which exposed plans by an Israeli cyberespionage firm, who planned to develop an eavesdropping software.

A highly targeted form of spyware was apparently hidden behind the text message, which actually takes advantage of Apple iOS' undisclosed weakness.

Researchers at a mobile security firm named Lookout, based in San Francisco, discovered a, “sophisticated, targeted, and persistent mobile attack on iOS using three zero-day vulnerabilities", called "Trident".

Apple has issued a security update to resolve the issue.

Spyware is software that aims to gather information about a person or organization without their knowledge and send such data to another entity without the consumer's consent, or that asserts control over a computer without the consumer's knowledge.

There are four kinds of Spyware:
- System monitors,
- Trojans
- Adware
- Tracking cookies

Spyware utilised for malicious purposes like data theft is typically hidden from the user and can be difficult to detect. Some spyware, such as keyloggers, may be installed by the owner of a shared, corporate, or public computer intentionally in order to monitor users.
- With inputs from agencies

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