Asian Tech Press (Nov 24) -- According to media reports, Apple recently filed a lawsuit against Israeli spyware developer NSO Group and its parent company, holding them accountable for surveillance and targeting of Apple users.

It is reported that NSO Group sold software to government agencies and law enforcement to hack into iPhones and read the data therein. The Apple complaint provides details about how NSO Group used Pegasus spyware to infect victims' devices; to prevent further abuse and harm to its users, Apple is also seeking a permanent injunction prohibiting NSO Group from using any Apple software, services or devices.

NSO's core business is giving government customers full access to a target company's iPhone or Android smartphone. Apple alleges in the lawsuit that NSO Group's spy software allows its government customers to access the full contents of the target's phone, allowing agents to read the target's text messages and emails, record phone calls, capture sound and camera footage and track the target's whereabouts. Apple also said it had patched a vulnerability in NSO Group's software that allowed it to access private iPhone data through a "zero-click" attack.

Apple also said that NSO Group created Apple ID accounts to send malicious data to victims' devices, violating the iCloud terms of service to operate its spyware.

Apple devices are the most secure consumer hardware on the market. Still, state-sponsored spyware private companies make them even more dangerous," said Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of software engineering. While these cybersecurity threats affect only a small percentage of users, we take the harm caused to each user very seriously, and we have been working to strengthen iOS security and privacy protections to keep all users safe."

The U.S. Department of Commerce blacklisted NSO Group earlier this month, barring it from using U.S. technology in its operations. This ban means that no U.S. organization can work with NSO Group.