A couple of days back Apple filed the case against Israel cyber firm NSO Group and its parent
company OSY technologies for alleged surveillance and targeting of US Apple users with its
Pegasus spyware.
There is news running around to ban NSO Group from using any Apple software, and services to
prevent future abuse. The above statement was given by the iPhone maker. Apple has got its
brand in the country and one of the highest companies, then comes NSO, the maker of ‘Pegasus
hacking tool’. This has been a problem for many people, where they cannot sustain or control
fraudulent activities online. They were targeting human rights workers and journalists. Earlier
the company NSO kept on the blacklist from trading activity. Microsoft Corporation, Meta
platforms, Cisco Systems, and Alphabet NSO had faced criticism and faced legal actions from
these companies. Basically, this is a hacking tool and involved in circumventing security for
various products produced by different companies, also by foreign governments.
Through the use of these hacking tools many say around “thousands of lives’ ‘ have been saved.
The statement stated by NSO officials. These tools are circulated only to governments and law
enforcement agencies to safeguard people and prevent misuse. NSO had provided tools to shoot
out the terrorists and fight against their technological safe-heavens. The government had agreed
to provide this hacking tool to them.
What’s there on the complaint sheet?
They filed a complaint in US District Court for the Northern District of California. NSO had
stated that these tools were used in concerted efforts in 2021 to attack and target Apple
customers. US citizens alleged by NSO’s spyware on mobile devices can cross international
borders.
The NSO Group created more than 100 fake Apple ID user credentials to carry out its attacks. Its
servers are not hacked, said NSO. But at the end of the day, they misused and manipulated the
servers to deliver the attacks on Apple users. They alleged the NSO Group had been directly
involved in providing consulting services for the attacks, finally maintaining the sales of tools to
its clients.
Apple stated that defendants forced Apple to engage in a continual arms race, Apple had
developed its solutions and enhanced the security of its devices. They also stated that there is no
such evidence found for NSO’s tools being used against Apple devices using iOS 15 and released
the latest version of its mobile operating system. The iPhone maker donated $10 million and
recovered all its damages in the court panel. The University of Toronto group first discovered
NSO’s attacks.
