Mirko Ross in WirtschaftsWoche: How mercenary spyware attacks on high-profile iPhones work
“So every iPhone can talk to the company’s security department – and the company, in turn, can reach every single user individually.” With these words, Mirko Ross, CEO of asvin, explains in WirtschaftsWoche what lies behind the warnings that have been appearing since the end of October on the iPhones of members of the Bundestag and members of the German government. Apple is warning them about so-called mercenary spyware. According to security sources, staff of the Bundestag administration, members of the media and business representatives have also received such warnings.
How Apple detects the invisible
These attacks have nothing to do with ordinary malware. They exploit previously unknown zero-day vulnerabilities, and the device is taken over via zero-click, without anyone having to click on anything. Apple does not reveal how it still manages to detect such attacks. Mirko Ross explains how this is likely to work in principle: deep within the iOS code there appear to be security functions that monitor whether all device functions are operating unchanged. They watch for unusual processes, for changes to the code caused by injected software and for data flowing to unusual destinations. If Apple’s security team recognises patterns it knows from other “mercenaries”, and if the indicators accumulate, those affected are warned directly.
Ross’s advice for an emergency
For an emergency, Ross gives clear advice that goes beyond Apple’s Lockdown Mode:
“After receiving such a warning, I would switch the device off completely and contact Apple and the security authorities.”
What the BSI recommends to those affected, how Android devices are protected against such attacks and what ordinary users should do now can be found in the full WirtschaftsWoche article.
It is well worth reading in full:
https://www.wiwo.de/technologie/digitale-welt/apple-warnung-vor-spyware-das-steckt-hinter-den-iphone-hacks/100266570.html
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