Kaspersky discovers iOS malware affecting millions of users

The computer security company Kaspersky recently published a report that many did not expect. Malware has been discovered on iPhones not running the latest version of iOS.

The company dubbed this threat “operation triangulation” and it has been active since 2019. As in many cases of this type, the goal is to collect personal data from victimized users.

This vulnerability was discovered because the iPhones of several Kaspersky employees displayed strange behavior. Since the diagnostic apps cannot be run on the smartphone itself, the company backed up the data of the target models and analyzed it.

Apple iPhone

The attack occurs by installing an invisible version of iMessage

Kaspersky’s findings reveal that cybercriminals carry out their intentions by sending an invisible version of iMessage to the iPhone. This version comes with a malicious attachment.

As in many similar situations, this malicious software is installed on the iPhone of the victims without their intervention. After collecting the desired data, it deletes itself, so most users won’t even know they’ve fallen victim to this attack.

Once installed on the smartphone, this malware can exploit various vulnerabilities in iOS to execute code and install spyware. In addition, it manages to expand its spectrum of privileges allowing it to cause even more damage.

Among the information collected we can highlight recordings made with the iPhone’s microphone, images sent through messaging applications or geolocation. This is because the malware in question manages to run without restrictions on the victim computer.

It is not easy to remove this malware from victim computers

The security company Kaspersky claims that the removal of this malware may encounter several obstacles. Many of them derive from the closed environment developed by Apple, which makes it impossible to remove this threat without losing user data.

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In fact, the only effective method to remove this threat is to factory reset the compromised iPhones. After this process, the user must install the latest version of iOS.

The last step is the most important, as Kaspersky experts state that only this version is capable of neutralizing this threat. In case you use an iPhone with an older version of its operating system, this malware will find its way back to the device.

According to the most recent data released by Apple, 80% of active iPhones worldwide are already running iOS 16. However, this means that there are approximately 258 million copies in the world with a less recent version, therefore, likely to be victims of the “operation”. triangulation”.

Apple conveys a false sense of security to the market

This is one of the boldest claims in the recent Kaspersky report. The information security company spares no criticism of the opacity of Apple’s operating system and the way in which it prevents the execution of tools to assess vulnerabilities.

In truth, Apple has a monopoly on security diagnostic tools that can run on the iPhone. A reality that makes the work of external security companies, such as Kaspersky, difficult.

This security company classifies iOS as a kind of black box where spyware can hide for years. This means that security companies do not discover these vulnerabilities, which translates into a lack of news on the subject.

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