Tag Archive for: iphone

India probing iPhone hacking complaints by opposition politicians

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(Corrects first name of minister in first paragraph to Ashwini)

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s cyber security agency is investigating complaints of mobile phone hacking by senior opposition politicians who reported receiving warning messages from Apple, Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said.

Vaishnaw was quoted in the Indian Express newspaper as saying on Thursday that CERT-In, the computer emergency response team based in New Delhi, had started the probe, adding that “Apple confirmed it has received the notice for investigation”.

A political aide to Vaishnaw and two officials in the federal home ministry told Reuters that all the cyber security concerns raised by the politicians were being scrutinised.

There was no immediate comment from Apple about the investigation.

This week, Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government of trying to hack into opposition politicians’ mobile phones after some lawmakers shared screenshots on social media of a notification quoting the iPhone manufacturer as saying: “Apple believes you are being targeted by state-sponsored attackers who are trying to remotely compromise the iPhone associated with your Apple ID”.

A senior minister from Modi’s government also said he had received the same notification on his phone.

Apple said it did not attribute the threat notifications to “any specific state-sponsored attacker”, adding that “it’s possible that some Apple threat notifications may be false alarms, or that some attacks are not detected”.

In 2021, India was rocked by reports that the government had used Israeli-made Pegasus spyware to snoop on scores of journalists, activists and politicians, including Gandhi.

The government has declined to reply to questions about whether India or any of its state agencies had purchased Pegasus spyware for surveillance.

(This story has been corrected to fix the first name of the minister to Ashwini in paragraph 1)

(Reporting by Rupam Jain and Munsif Vengattil; editing by Miral Fahmy)

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Hack of Egyptian presidential candidate’s iPhone tied to tech firm Sandvine

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Attempts to hack the iPhone of a presidential candidate in Egypt have been linked to the computer networking company Sandvine Inc., whose equipment has previously been used by Belarus and other countries to censor the internet.

Ahmed Eltantawy, a prominent opposition politician, was repeatedly targeted with spyware between May and September after he announced his plans to run in Egypt’s 2024 presidential elections.(REUTERS)
Ahmed Eltantawy, a prominent opposition politician, was repeatedly targeted with spyware between May and September after he announced his plans to run in Egypt’s 2024 presidential elections.(REUTERS)

Ahmed Eltantawy, a prominent opposition politician, was repeatedly targeted with spyware between May and September after he announced his plans to run in Egypt’s 2024 presidential elections, according to an analysis from the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab. After conducting a forensic examination of the device, the researchers concluded with “high confidence” that the Egyptian government was behind the attempted hacks.

His phone blocked the hacking attempts because it was in a “lockdown mode,” but it turned out he had been successfully infected two years earlier with a spyware known as Predator, manufactured by North Macedonian surveillance technology firm Cytrox, the researchers found. That hack was carried out via a text message containing a link to a Predator website, according to the researchers.

In the attempted hacks, Eltantawy was lured into clicking links contained in fake security alerts that purported to be from the messaging service WhatsApp. His phone was silently redirected to a malicious website, and spyware was supposed to be “injected” onto his phone with the help of technology sold by Sandvine, according to Citizen Lab’s report.

“The use of mercenary spyware to target a senior member of a country’s democratic opposition after they had announced their intention to run for president is a clear interference in free and fair elections,” Citizen Lab wrote in its report.

Sandvine “does not make, sell or collaborate with spyware or malware vendors,” according to an emailed statement provided to Bloomberg, which also said its products were not “capable of injecting malware or spyware.” The statement referred instead to a technique called “packet redirection,” which it said was a capability “sold by all…

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Hack of Egyptian Politician’s iPhone Tied to Tech Firm Sandvine

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(Bloomberg) — A hack that compromised the iPhone of a presidential candidate in Egypt has been linked to the computer networking company Sandvine Inc., whose equipment has previously been used by Belarus and other countries to censor the internet.

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Ahmed Eltantawy, a prominent opposition politician, had his phone breached between May and September after he announced his plans to run in Egypt’s 2024 presidential elections, according to an analysis from the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab. After conducting a forensic examination of the device, the researchers concluded with “high confidence” that the Egyptian government was behind the hack.

Eltantawy’s phone was infected with a spyware known as Predator, manufactured by North Macedonian surveillance technology firm Cytrox, the researchers found. He was lured into clicking links contained in fake security alerts that purported to be from the messaging service WhatsApp. His phone was silently redirected to a malicious website, and spyware was “injected” onto his phone with the help of technology sold by Sandvine, according to Citizen Lab’s report.

Sandvine “does not make, sell or collaborate with spyware or malware vendors,” according to an emailed statement provided to Bloomberg, which also said its products were not “capable of injecting malware or spyware.” The statement referred instead to a technique called “packet redirection,” which it said was a capability “sold by all major vendors in the space and used millions of times a day.”

“Sandvine makes products for telecom companies that enable the internet to function and to ensure that citizens have high quality access to information worldwide,” according to the statement.

Representatives from Cytrox and the Egyptian government didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Sandvine, originally founded in Canada, was acquired by San Francisco-based private equity firm Francisco Partners and combined with Procera Networks in 2017, in a deal worth $444 million. The company makes equipment, known as “deep packet inspection” technology, that can be used to manage massive flows of internet traffic passing between networks. The…

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Update Your iPhone 15 Before Transferring Data to Avoid Malware Exploits

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If you recently purchased an iPhone 15 and are planning to transfer data from your older iPhone using Quick Start, there’s an important step you need to take. Before initiating the data transfer, you should update the software on your iPhone 15 to iOS 17.0.2. This update addresses a serious bug that could potentially allow malware to be installed on your device.

Ideally, your iPhone 15 will prompt you to update to iOS 17.0.2 before starting the data transfer process. However, if you encounter an issue where your iPhone 15 gets stuck on the Apple logo during the iPhone-to-iPhone transfer, you can resolve itconnecting your new iPhone to a Mac or PC and performing a reset to complete the transfer.

For those who are setting up the iPhone 15 as a new device or retrieving data from iCloud instead of using Quick Start, you have the option to update to iOS 17 later on.

It’s worth noting that even if you do not own an iPhone 15, it is still crucial to update your device. Apple has released two updates this week for iOS 17 to fix three zero-day exploits discovered in the operating system. Additionally, updates have been issued for iOS 16, iPadOS, Safari, watchOS, and macOS Ventura and Monterey.

These vulnerabilities could potentially allow an attacker to install malware on an iPhone, granting them unauthorized access to sensitive data and bypassing Apple’s security checks for app safety. The exploits are suspected to have targeted an Egyptian politician running for president.

To restore your iPhone 15 using a computer, follow these steps:

1. Connect your new iPhone to a computer using a cable.
2. Press and quickly release the volume up button, followedthe volume down button. Then, press and hold the side button.
3. Continue holding the side button until the Apple logo appears, and do not release it until an image of a computer and cable is displayed.
4. On your computer, locate your new iPhone in the Finder (on a Mac) or in iTunes (on a PC).
5. When given the option to Restore or Update, choose Restore.

Updating your software and taking necessary precautions will help ensure the security and smooth functioning of your new iPhone 15.

Sources:
– Source article
– Apple.com (for iOS update…

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