Experts issue warning to iPhone users over 'sophisticated' attack stealing financial info and texts
Google cybersecurity experts have highlighted a new hacking tool that is being used and have issued a warning against it.
Technology moves pretty quickly and getting a new phone almost yearly is pretty normal for most people.
While, companies brag about their new software and improvements to your security, on the flipside of things, criminals who would steal your data and your money are also often making improvements to the tech that they use.
In a Google Cloud blog post on March 3, cybersecurity experts revealed a newly used tool by criminals to hack iPhones.
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The spyware has been dubbed ‘Coruna’ and was first identified by researchers at Google's Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG).
The blog post read: “Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) has identified a new and powerful exploit kit targeting Apple iPhone models running iOS version 13.0 (released in September 2019) up to version 17.2.1 (released in December 2023).
“The exploit kit, named “Coruna” by its developers, contained five full iOS exploit chains and a total of 23 exploits.
“The Coruna exploit kit provides another example of how sophisticated capabilities proliferate.”
These ‘exploits’ ultimately means the toolkit can be used to break into apple devices and bypass built-in security measures.
Once activated, the system can reportedly steal pieces of text and potentially access sensitive information stored on the phone including photos, notes and financial data.
According to a Mail Online report, the toolkit is designed in part to exploit Apple’s Safari browser and can be triggered in multiple ways, including when a user clicks on a malicious link.
The Google blog post went on to identify that the tool had been used in ‘highly targeted operations’ with those behind the attacks suspected to be operating as a ‘Russian espionage group’ as well as a ‘financially motivated threat actor operating from China.’
The post also explained the importance of divulging this information to the many phone users who may be at risk.
The post continued: “Following our disclosure policy, we are sharing our research to raise awareness and advance security across the industry. We have also added all identified websites and domains to Safe Browsing to safeguard users from further exploitation.”
The post reiterated that the Coruna exploit kit is not effective against the latest version of iOS.
It also encouraged users to update their devices to the latest version of IOS to ensure the highest level of security.
Topics: News, Technology, iPhone, Phones
Gerrard Kaonga