Ahmed Mansoor a Target of a Spying Operation

Apple issued a global update for its iPhone and iPad devices that would provide more protection from potential hacking attempts. This came after the Emirati eminent activist, Ahmed Mansoor, was a target of a malware attacking his iPhone 6 mobile.

According to the Guardian, "The spyware took advantage of three previously undisclosed weaknesses in Apple’s iPhone to take complete control of the devices." 

The incident started when the human rights defender opened his mobile to find slightly strange text messages that embedded links to alleged websites showcasing information about dissentients abused in the UAE. Ahmed Mansoor knew that all of this was too good to be true so he forwarded the messages to some researchers specialised in cyber security.

The researchers of Lookout and Citizen Lab have then discovered that the links sent to Mansoor’s phone were indeed a sort of spyware used to steal data from the device without the owner's consent, these data could divulge the exact location of the person and everything from his Facebook to his email's messages and personal information.

The two institutions have released reports that explain how the hacking process worked, potentially compromising an iPhone with the tap of a finger. Citizen Lab tried later on to locate the place from which the attack was launched and after analysing the domains and the code of the spyware system, it came to the conclusion that the attack was started by a private Israeli security firm called NSO Group.

As previous reports showed that other Emirati dissenters were the target of the Stealth Falcon spying attacks, Citizen Lab has also spotted links between the latter mentioned company and the NSO Group. In fact, Stealth Falcon is thought to be one of NSO group's customers.