Russia appears to be targeting journalists with spyware known as Pegasus. Pegasus is a "zero-click" software, hacking phones by sending texts that

  • Russia appears to be targeting journalists with spyware known as Pegasus.

  • Pegasus is a “zero-click” software, hacking phones by sending texts that don’t need to be opened.

  • The software has targeted dozens of journalists, activists, and politicians in recent years.

  • masterofn001@lemmy.caEnglish
    1918·
    1 year ago

    At this rate an iPhone will just be Pegasus all the way down. 76 nation states and their rogue black ops will battle for pegasupremacy.

    He who hacks harder wins.

    (The above is not based on any fact)

    But, seriously… 3 (known) years later and Apple doesn’t have a fix for this?

    Almost as if it’s intentionally unpatched

    Edit: fanboys are a tough crowd. Gheezus.

    • narc0tic_bird@lemm.eeEnglish
      292·
      1 year ago

      It’s not like Pegasus is exploiting a single bug in iOS, there are probably hundreds of different ways Pegasus got onto phones over the years. Known security bugs get patched.

      Pegasus isn’t a single piece of software, it’s a big toolkit, constantly updated. It’s a race similar to ads vs. ad blockers.

      It’s not a problem exclusive to iOS either. Pegasus works on Android phones as well.

      • masterofn001@lemmy.caEnglish
        1111·
        1 year ago

        Code has been analyzed from several versions of it.

        That Apple (especially) can’t mitigate against it is pretty damning.

        Regardless what Pegasus is made of, it exploits vulnerabilities. Use a rock, a bat, or hard boiled egg and you can break a cheap window. It’s the window that is insecure. Not the methods used.

        A trillion dollar company ought to be able to put up a bit more than plexiglass.

        And the mega corps ought to be working together on this. Imagine if it got out into the wild.

        Remember spectre?

        https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectre_(security_vulnerability)

        I am not a lawyer.

        • Dudewitbow@lemmy.mlEnglish
          121·
          1 year ago

          hardware based speculation is hard to patch compared to most exploits that are just bad programming mistakes due to two factors. one being its hardware and its hard to patch out hardware and 2. fixing it would lead to severe drop in performance. A name of a very recent one would be Retbleed.

          • masterofn001@lemmy.caEnglish
            11·
            1 year ago

            Yet, if you check your dmesg you’ll find innumerable methods of mitigation against such exploits.

            A software patch for hardware issue.

            Personally, I’d rather the drop in performance than the Kashoggi treatment.

    • Skimmer@lemmy.zipEnglish
      63·
      1 year ago

      But, seriously… 3 (known) years later and Apple doesn’t have a fix for this?

      Almost as if it’s intentionally unpatched

      Pegasus constantly adapts, evolves, and changes overtime with how it works. Pegasus 3 years ago isn’t the same as Pegasus today. Once a vulnerability is discovered and fixed, they find a new one to exploit and take advantage of. Its a constant battle.

      I’m not a big fan of Apple at all, but credit where its due, they have made a pretty good effort to patch Pegasus vulnerabilities whenever they come about, plus have added features like Lockdown Mode to help protect against it even further, etc. This article is literally about Apple even warning journalists to be cautious of it.

      Saying Apple is intentionally allowing Pegasus to happen, like you’re claiming, is honestly laughable with all things considered.