Apple and Google Launch Cross-Platform Feature to Detect Unwanted Bluetooth Tracking Devices

Apple and Google on Monday officially announced the rollout of a new feature that notifies users across both iOS and Android if a Bluetooth tracking device is being used to stealthily keep tabs on them without their knowledge or consent. "This will help mitigate the misuse of devices designed to help keep track of belongings," the companies said in a joint statement, adding it aims to address "

Apple Updates Spyware Alert System to Warn Victims of Mercenary Attacks

Apple on Wednesday revised its documentation pertaining to its mercenary spyware threat notification system to mention that it alerts users when they may have been individually targeted by such attacks. It also specifically called out companies like NSO Group for developing commercial surveillance tools such as Pegasus that are used by state actors to pull off "individually targeted

Darcula Phishing Network Leveraging RCS and iMessage to Evade Detection

A sophisticated phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS) platform called Darcula has set its sights on organizations in over 100 countries by leveraging a massive network of more than 20,000 counterfeit domains to help cyber criminals launch attacks at scale. "Using iMessage and RCS rather than SMS to send text messages has the side effect of bypassing SMS firewalls, which is being used to great

New "GoFetch" Vulnerability in Apple M-Series Chips Leaks Secret Encryption Keys

A new security shortcoming discovered in Apple M-series chips could be exploited to extract secret keys used during cryptographic operations. Dubbed GoFetch, the vulnerability relates to a microarchitectural side-channel attack that takes advantage of a feature known as data memory-dependent prefetcher (DMP) to target constant-time cryptographic implementations and capture sensitive data

U.S. Justice Department Sues Apple Over Monopoly and Messaging Security

The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ), along with 16 other state and district attorneys general, on Thursday accused Apple of illegally maintaining a monopoly over smartphones, thereby undermining, among other things, the security and privacy of users when messaging non-iPhone users. "Apple wraps itself in a cloak of privacy, security, and consumer preferences to justify its

Urgent: Apple Issues Critical Updates for Actively Exploited Zero-Day Flaws

Apple has released security updates to address several security flaws, including two vulnerabilities that it said have been actively exploited in the wild. The shortcomings are listed below - CVE-2024-23225 - A memory corruption issue in Kernel that an attacker with arbitrary kernel read and write capability can exploit to bypass kernel memory protections CVE-2024-23296 - A memory

Researchers Detail Apple's Recent Zero-Click Shortcuts Vulnerability

Details have emerged about a now-patched high-severity security flaw in Apple's Shortcuts app that could permit a shortcut to access sensitive information on the device without users' consent. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2024-23204 (CVSS score: 7.5), was addressed by Apple on January 22, 2024, with the release of iOS 17.3, iPadOS 17.3, macOS Sonoma 14.3, and 

Apple Unveils PQ3 Protocol - Post-Quantum Encryption for iMessage

Apple has announced a new post-quantum cryptographic protocol called PQ3 that it said will be integrated into iMessage to secure the messaging platform against future attacks arising from the threat of a practical quantum computer. "With compromise-resilient encryption and extensive defenses against even highly sophisticated quantum attacks, PQ3 is the first messaging protocol to reach

Alert: New Stealthy "RustDoor" Backdoor Targeting Apple macOS Devices

Apple macOS users are the target of a new Rust-based backdoor that has been operating under the radar since November 2023. The backdoor, codenamed RustDoor by Bitdefender, has been found to impersonate an update for Microsoft Visual Studio and target both Intel and Arm architectures. The exact initial access pathway used to propagate the implant is currently not known, although

Kimsuky's New Golang Stealer 'Troll' and 'GoBear' Backdoor Target South Korea

The North Korea-linked nation-state actor known as Kimsuky is suspected of using a previously undocumented Golang-based information stealer called Troll Stealer. The malware steals "SSH, FileZilla, C drive files/directories, browsers, system information, [and] screen captures" from infected systems, South Korean cybersecurity company S2W said in a new technical report. Troll

CISA Warns of Active Exploitation Apple iOS and macOS Vulnerability

The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Wednesday added a high-severity flaw impacting iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, based on evidence of active exploitation. The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2022-48618 (CVSS score: 7.8), concerns a bug in the kernel component. "An attacker with

"Activator" Alert: MacOS Malware Hides in Cracked Apps, Targeting Crypto Wallets

Cracked software have been observed infecting Apple macOS users with a previously undocumented stealer malware capable of harvesting system information and cryptocurrency wallet data. Kaspersky, which identified the artifacts in the wild, said they are designed to target machines running macOS Ventura 13.6 and later, indicating the malware's ability to infect Macs on both Intel and

Apple Issues Patch for Critical Zero-Day in iPhones, Macs - Update Now

Apple on Monday released security updates for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, and Safari web browser to address a zero-day flaw that has come under active exploitation in the wild. The issue, tracked as CVE-2024-23222, is a type confusion bug in the WebKit browser engine that could be exploited by a threat actor to achieve arbitrary code execution when processing maliciously crafted web content. The

New iShutdown Method Exposes Hidden Spyware Like Pegasus on Your iPhone

Cybersecurity researchers have identified a "lightweight method" called iShutdown for reliably identifying signs of spyware on Apple iOS devices, including notorious threats like NSO Group's Pegasus, QuaDream's Reign, and Intellexa's Predator.  Kaspersky, which analyzed a set of iPhones that were compromised with Pegasus, said the infections left traces in a file

SpectralBlur: New macOS Backdoor Threat from North Korean Hackers

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a new Apple macOS backdoor called SpectralBlur that overlaps with a known malware family that has been attributed to North Korean threat actors. “SpectralBlur is a moderately capable backdoor that can upload/download files, run a shell, update its configuration, delete files, hibernate, or sleep, based on commands issued from the [

New Go-Based JaskaGO Malware Targeting Windows and macOS Systems

A new Go-based information stealer malware called JaskaGO has emerged as the latest cross-platform threat to infiltrate both Windows and Apple macOS systems. AT&T Alien Labs, which made the discovery, said the malware is "equipped with an extensive array of commands from its command-and-control (C&C) server." Artifacts designed for macOS were first observed in July

Apple Releases Security Updates to Patch Critical iOS and macOS Security Flaws

Apple on Monday released security patches for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, and Safari web browser to address multiple security flaws, in addition to backporting fixes for two recently disclosed zero-days to older devices. This includes updates for 12 security vulnerabilities in iOS and iPadOS spanning AVEVideoEncoder, ExtensionKit, Find My, ImageIO, Kernel, Safari

Governments May Spy on You by Requesting Push Notifications from Apple and Google

Unspecified governments have demanded mobile push notification records from Apple and Google users to pursue people of interest, according to U.S. Senator Ron Wyden. "Push notifications are alerts sent by phone apps to users' smartphones," Wyden said. "These alerts pass through a digital post office run by the phone operating system provider -- overwhelmingly Apple or Google. Because of

Warning for iPhone Users: Experts Warn of Sneaky Fake Lockdown Mode Attack

A new "post-exploitation tampering technique" can be abused by malicious actors to visually deceive a target into believing that their Apple iPhone is running in Lockdown Mode when it's actually not and carry out covert attacks. The novel method, detailed by Jamf Threat Labs in a report shared with The Hacker News, "shows that if a hacker has already infiltrated your device, they can

New BLUFFS Bluetooth Attack Expose Devices to Adversary-in-the-Middle Attacks

New research has unearthed multiple novel attacks that break Bluetooth Classic's forward secrecy and future secrecy guarantees, resulting in adversary-in-the-middle (AitM) scenarios between two already connected peers. The issues, collectively named BLUFFS, impact Bluetooth Core Specification 4.2 through 5.4. They are tracked under the identifier CVE-2023-24023 (CVSS score: 6.8)

Zero-Day Alert: Apple Rolls Out iOS, macOS, and Safari Patches for 2 Actively Exploited Flaws

Apple has released software updates for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and Safari web browser to address two security flaws that it said have come under active exploitation in the wild on older versions of its software. The vulnerabilities, both of which reside in the WebKit web browser engine, are described below - CVE-2023-42916 - An out-of-bounds read issue that could be exploited to

WhatsApp Introduces New Privacy Feature to Protect IP Address in Calls

Meta-owned WhatsApp is officially rolling out a new privacy feature in its messaging service called "Protect IP Address in Calls" that masks users' IP addresses to other parties by relaying the calls through its servers. "Calls are end-to-end encrypted, so even if a call is relayed through WhatsApp servers, WhatsApp cannot listen to your calls," the company said in a statement shared with The

iLeakage: New Safari Exploit Impacts Apple iPhones and Macs with A- and M-Series CPUs

A group of academics has devised a novel side-channel attack dubbed iLeakage that exploits a weakness in the A- and M-series CPUs running on Apple iOS, iPadOS, and macOS devices, enabling the extraction of sensitive information from the Safari web browser. "An attacker can induce Safari to render an arbitrary webpage, subsequently recovering sensitive information present within it using

iOS Zero-Day Attacks: Experts Uncover Deeper Insights into Operation Triangulation

The TriangleDB implant used to target Apple iOS devices packs in at least four different modules to record microphone, extract iCloud Keychain, steal data from SQLite databases used by various apps, and estimate the victim's location. The new findings come from Kaspersky, which detailed the great lengths the adversary behind the campaign, dubbed Operation Triangulation, went to conceal and cover

PEACHPIT: Massive Ad Fraud Botnet Powered by Millions of Hacked Android and iOS

An ad fraud botnet dubbed PEACHPIT leveraged an army of hundreds of thousands of Android and iOS devices to generate illicit profits for the threat actors behind the scheme. The botnet is part of a larger China-based operation codenamed BADBOX, which also entails selling off-brand mobile and connected TV (CTV) devices on popular online retailers and resale sites that are backdoored with an 

Apple Rolls Out Security Patches for Actively Exploited iOS Zero-Day Flaw

Apple on Wednesday rolled out security patches to address a new zero-day flaw in iOS and iPadOS that it said has come under active exploitation in the wild. Tracked as CVE-2023-42824, the kernel vulnerability could be abused by a local attacker to elevate their privileges. The iPhone maker said it addressed the problem with improved checks. "Apple is aware of a report that this issue may have

New Apple Zero-Days Exploited to Target Egyptian ex-MP with Predator Spyware

The three zero-day flaws addressed by Apple on September 21, 2023, were leveraged as part of an iPhone exploit chain in an attempt to deliver a spyware strain called Predator targeting former Egyptian member of parliament Ahmed Eltantawy between May and September 2023. "The targeting took place after Eltantawy publicly stated his plans to run for President in the 2024 Egyptian elections," the

Apple Rushes to Patch 3 New Zero-Day Flaws: iOS, macOS, Safari, and More Vulnerable

Apple has released yet another round of security patches to address three actively exploited zero-day flaws impacting iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and Safari, taking the total tally of zero-day bugs discovered in its software this year to 16. The list of security vulnerabilities is as follows - CVE-2023-41991 - A certificate validation issue in the Security framework that could allow a

Microsoft Uncovers Flaws in ncurses Library Affecting Linux and macOS Systems

A set of memory corruption flaws have been discovered in the ncurses (short for new curses) programming library that could be exploited by threat actors to run malicious code on vulnerable Linux and macOS systems. "Using environment variable poisoning, attackers could chain these vulnerabilities to elevate privileges and run code in the targeted program's context or perform other malicious

Beware: MetaStealer Malware Targets Apple macOS in Recent Attacks

A new information stealer malware called MetaStealer has set its sights on Apple macOS, making the latest in a growing list of stealer families focused on the operating system after MacStealer, Pureland, Atomic Stealer, and Realst. "Threat actors are proactively targeting macOS businesses by posing as fake clients in order to socially engineer victims into launching malicious payloads,"

Google Rushes to Patch Critical Chrome Vulnerability Exploited in the Wild - Update Now

Google on Monday rolled out out-of-band security patches to address a critical security flaw in its Chrome web browser that it said has been exploited in the wild. Tracked as CVE-2023-4863, the issue has been described as a case of heap buffer overflow that resides in the WebP image format that could result in arbitrary code execution or a crash. Apple Security Engineering and Architecture (SEAR

Apple Rushes to Patch Zero-Day Flaws Exploited for Pegasus Spyware on iPhones

Apple on Thursday released emergency security updates for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS to address two zero-day flaws that have been exploited in the wild to deliver NSO Group's Pegasus mercenary spyware. The issues are described as below - CVE-2023-41061 - A validation issue in Wallet that could result in arbitrary code execution when handling a maliciously crafted attachment. CVE-2023-41064

Mac Users Beware: Malvertising Campaign Spreads Atomic Stealer macOS Malware

A new malvertising campaign has been observed distributing an updated version of a macOS stealer malware called Atomic Stealer (or AMOS), indicating that it’s being actively maintained by its author. An off-the-shelf Golang malware available for $1,000 per month, Atomic Stealer first came to light in April 2023. Shortly after that, new variants with an expanded set of information-gathering

Chinese-Speaking Cybercriminals Launch Large-Scale iMessage Smishing Campaign in U.S.

A new large-scale smishing campaign is targeting the U.S. by sending iMessages from compromised Apple iCloud accounts with an aim to conduct identity theft and financial fraud. “The Chinese-speaking threat actors behind this campaign are operating a package-tracking text scam sent via iMessage to collect personally identifying information (PII) and payment credentials from victims, in the

New Variant of XLoader macOS Malware Disguised as 'OfficeNote' Productivity App

A new variant of an Apple macOS malware called XLoader has surfaced in the wild, masquerading its malicious features under the guise of an office productivity app called "OfficeNote." "The new version of XLoader is bundled inside a standard Apple disk image with the name OfficeNote.dmg," SentinelOne security researchers Dinesh Devadoss and Phil Stokes said in a Monday analysis. "The application

New Apple iOS 16 Exploit Enables Stealthy Cellular Access Under Fake Airplane Mode

Cybersecurity researchers have documented a novel post-exploit persistence technique on iOS 16 that could be abused to fly under the radar and maintain access to an Apple device even when the victim believes it is offline. The method "tricks the victim into thinking their device's Airplane Mode works when in reality the attacker (following successful device exploit) has planted an artificial

Apple Sets New Rules for Developers to Prevent Fingerprinting and Data Misuse

Apple has announced plans to require developers to submit reasons to use certain APIs in their apps starting later this year with the release of iOS 17, iPadOS 17, macOS Sonoma, tvOS 17, and watchOS 10 to prevent their abuse for data collection. "This will help ensure that apps only use these APIs for their intended purpose," the company said in a statement. "As part of this process, you'll need

Rust-based Realst Infostealer Targeting Apple macOS Users' Cryptocurrency Wallets

A new malware family called Realst has become the latest to target Apple macOS systems, with a third of the samples already designed to infect macOS 14 Sonoma, the upcoming major release of the operating system. Written in the Rust programming language, the malware is distributed in the form of bogus blockchain games and is capable of "emptying crypto wallets and stealing stored password and

macOS Under Attack: Examining the Growing Threat and User Perspectives

As the number of people using macOS keeps going up, so does the desire of hackers to take advantage of flaws in Apple's operating system.  What Are the Rising Threats to macOS? There is a common misconception among macOS fans that Apple devices are immune to hacking and malware infection. However, users have been facing more and more dangers recently. Inventive attackers are specifically

Apple Rolls Out Urgent Patches for Zero-Day Flaws Impacting iPhones, iPads and Macs

Apple has rolled out security updates to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, and Safari to address several security vulnerabilities, including one actively exploited zero-day bug in the wild. Tracked as CVE-2023-38606, the shortcoming resides in the kernel and permits a malicious app to modify sensitive kernel state potentially. The company said it was addressed with improved state management. "

Apple Threatens to Pull iMessage and FaceTime from U.K. Amid Surveillance Demands

Apple has warned that it would rather stop offering iMessage and FaceTime services in the U.K. than bowing down to government pressure in response to new proposals that seek to expand digital surveillance powers available to state intelligence agencies. The development, first reported by BBC News, makes the iPhone maker the latest to join the chorus of voices protesting against forthcoming

Apple Issues Urgent Patch for Zero-Day Flaw Targeting iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and Safari

Apple has released Rapid Security Response updates for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and Safari web browser to address a zero-day flaw that it said has been actively exploited in the wild. The WebKit bug, cataloged as CVE-2023-37450, could allow threat actors to achieve arbitrary code execution when processing specially crafted web content. The iPhone maker said it addressed the issue with improved checks

Beware: New 'RustBucket' Malware Variant Targeting macOS Users

Researchers have pulled back the curtain on an updated version of an Apple macOS malware called RustBucket that comes with improved capabilities to establish persistence and avoid detection by security software. "This variant of RustBucket, a malware family that targets macOS systems, adds persistence capabilities not previously observed," Elastic Security Labs researchers said in a report

Japanese Cryptocurrency Exchange Falls Victim to JokerSpy macOS Backdoor Attack

An unknown cryptocurrency exchange located in Japan was the target of a new attack earlier this month to deploy an Apple macOS backdoor called JokerSpy. Elastic Security Labs, which is monitoring the intrusion set under the name REF9134, said the attack led to the installation of Swiftbelt, a Swift-based enumeration tool inspired by an open-source utility called SeatBelt. JokerSky was first

Zero-Day Alert: Apple Releases Patches for Actively Exploited Flaws in iOS, macOS, and Safari

Apple on Wednesday released a slew of updates for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and Safari browser to address a set of flaws it said were actively exploited in the wild. This includes a pair of zero-days that have been weaponized in a mobile surveillance campaign called Operation Triangulation that has been active since 2019. The exact threat actor behind the activity is not known. CVE-2023-

New Report Exposes Operation Triangulation's Spyware Implant Targeting iOS Devices

More details have emerged about the spyware implant that's delivered to iOS devices as part of a campaign called Operation Triangulation. Kaspersky, which discovered the operation after becoming one of the targets at the start of the year, said the malware has a lifespan of 30 days, after which it gets automatically uninstalled unless the time period is extended by the attackers. The Russian

Researchers Discover New Sophisticated Toolkit Targeting Apple macOS Systems

Cybersecurity researchers have uncovered a set of malicious artifacts that they say is part of a sophisticated toolkit targeting Apple macOS systems. "As of now, these samples are still largely undetected and very little information is available about any of them," Bitdefender researchers Andrei Lapusneanu and Bogdan Botezatu said in a preliminary report published on Friday. The Romanian firm's

Apple's Safari Private Browsing Now Automatically Removes Tracking Parameters in URLs

Apple is introducing major updates to Safari Private Browsing, offering users better protections against third-party trackers as they browse the web. "Advanced tracking and fingerprinting protections go even further to help prevent websites from using the latest techniques to track or identify a user's device," the iPhone maker said. "Private Browsing now locks when not in use, allowing a user

New Zero-Click Hack Targets iOS Users with Stealthy Root-Privilege Malware

A previously unknown advanced persistent threat (APT) is targeting iOS devices as part of a sophisticated and long-running mobile campaign dubbed Operation Triangulation that began in 2019. "The targets are infected using zero-click exploits via the iMessage platform, and the malware runs with root privileges, gaining complete control over the device and user data," Kaspersky said. The Russian

Microsoft Details Critical Apple macOS Vulnerability Allowing SIP Protection Bypass

Microsoft has shared details of a now-patched flaw in Apple macOS that could be abused by threat actors with root access to bypass security enforcements and perform arbitrary actions on affected devices. Specifically, the flaw – dubbed Migraine and tracked as CVE-2023-32369 – could be abused to get around a key security measure called System Integrity Protection (SIP), or “rootless,” which

WebKit Under Attack: Apple Issues Emergency Patches for 3 New Zero-Day Vulnerabilities

Apple on Thursday rolled out security updates to iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, watchOS, and the Safari web browser to address dozens of flaws, including three new zero-days that it said are being actively exploited in the wild. The three security shortcomings are listed below - CVE-2023-32409 - A WebKit flaw that could be exploited by a malicious actor to break out of the Web Content sandbox. It

Apple Thwarts $2 Billion in App Store Fraud, Rejects 1.7 Million App Submissions

Apple has announced that it prevented over $2 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions and rejected roughly 1.7 million app submissions for privacy and security violations in 2022. The computing giant said it terminated 428,000 developer accounts for potential fraudulent activity, blocked 105,000 fake developer account creations, and deactivated 282 million bogus customer accounts. It

Hackers Using Golang Variant of Cobalt Strike to Target Apple macOS Systems

A Golang implementation of Cobalt Strike called Geacon is likely to garner the attention of threat actors looking to target Apple macOS systems. That's according to findings from SentinelOne, which observed an increase in the number of Geacon payloads appearing on VirusTotal in recent months. "While some of these are likely red-team operations, others bear the characteristics of genuine

Apple and Google Join Forces to Stop Unauthorized Location-Tracking Devices

Apple and Google have teamed up to work on a draft industry-wide specification that's designed to tackle safety risks and alert users when they are being tracked without their knowledge or permission using devices like AirTags. "The first-of-its-kind specification will allow Bluetooth location-tracking devices to be compatible with unauthorized tracking detection and alerts across Android and

New Atomic macOS Malware Steals Keychain Passwords and Crypto Wallets

Threat actors are advertising a new information stealer for the Apple macOS operating system called Atomic macOS Stealer (or AMOS) on Telegram for $1,000 per month, joining the likes of MacStealer. "The Atomic macOS Stealer can steal various types of information from the victim's machine, including Keychain passwords, complete system information, files from the desktop and documents folder, and

NSO Group Used 3 Zero-Click iPhone Exploits Against Human Rights Defenders

Israeli spyware maker NSO Group deployed at least three novel "zero-click" exploits against iPhones in 2022 to infiltrate defenses erected by Apple and deploy Pegasus, according to the latest findings from Citizen Lab. "NSO Group customers widely deployed at least three iOS 15 and iOS 16 zero-click exploit chains against civil society targets around the world," the interdisciplinary laboratory

LockBit Ransomware Now Targeting Apple macOS Devices

Threat actors behind the LockBit ransomware operation have developed new artifacts that can encrypt files on devices running Apple's macOS operating system. The development, which was reported by the MalwareHunterTeam over the weekend, appears to be the first time a big-game ransomware crew has created a macOS-based payload. Additional samples identified by vx-underground show that the macOS

Apple Releases Updates to Address Zero-Day Flaws in iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and Safari

Apple on Friday released security updates for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and Safari web browser to address a pair of zero-day flaws that are being exploited in the wild. The two vulnerabilities are as follows - CVE-2023-28205 - A use after free issue in WebKit that could lead to arbitrary code execution when processing specially crafted web content. CVE-2023-28206 - An out-of-bounds write issue in

Apple Issues Urgent Security Update for Older iOS and iPadOS Models

Apple on Monday backported fixes for an actively exploited security flaw to older iPhone and iPad models. The issue, tracked as CVE-2023-23529, concerns a type confusion bug in the WebKit browser engine that could lead to arbitrary code execution. It was originally addressed by the tech giant with improved checks as part of updates released on February 13, 2023. An anonymous researcher has been

New MacStealer macOS Malware Steals iCloud Keychain Data and Passwords

A new information-stealing malware has set its sights on Apple's macOS operating system to siphon sensitive information from compromised devices. Dubbed MacStealer, it's the latest example of a threat that uses Telegram as a command-and-control (C2) platform to exfiltrate data. It primarily affects devices running macOS versions Catalina and later running on M1 and M2 CPUs. "MacStealer has the