Apple boosts iPhone security after Mideast spyware discovery

Today’s update follow the release of iOS 9.3.4 earlier this month. Now that Apple is offering a bounty to hackers that discover flaws it may be more likely that security researchers take their findings to Apple to collect rather than releasing.

Mr. Mansoor said he received a text message August 10 from a phone number he didn’t recognize that said, “New secrets about torture of Emiratis in state prisons”.

Together they confirmed the discovery of an advanced piece of spyware that took advantage of three previously unknown iOS security holes. However, those who are looking to jailbreak their devices, this is bad news as any device on iOS 9.3.4 is now stuck and can no longer downgrade to iOS 9.3.3 to jailbreak their device.

Apparently, an iOS 10 update will fix the way Siri pronounces Barbra Streisand’s name.

The companies have notified Apple of the vulnerabilities, the Lookout spokeswoman said. However, Apple has recently launched measures to counter the iOS 9.3.3 jailbreak which makes it harder for device owners to let iOS 9.3.4 work.

Citizen Lab, however, is pointing fingers at an Israeli security firm called NSO Group, which reportedly specializes in monitoring smartphones of government targets.

An NSO spokesman said the company had no knowledge of Mr. Mansoor’s case. “I could tell that there was something wrong and I contacted the Citizen Lab team immediately”. Two weeks ago, he reported several suspicious SMS text messages to researchers at the digital rights watchdog group Citizen Lab. Mansoor has previously been the target of commercial spyware back in 2011 and 2012. Also Citizen Lab believes “state-sponsored actors” attack a Mexican journalist with the NSO software.

“While these spyware tools are developed in democracies, they continue to be sold to countries with notorious records of abusive targeting of human rights defenders”, said Citizen Lab, which is based out of the University of Toronto.