April 12, 2023
2 mins read

Pegasus-style spyware attacks target journalists, politicians

Microsoft Threat Intelligence analysts named the threat group as “DEV-0196” linked to Israel-based private sector offensive actor (PSOA) known as QuaDream….reports Asian Lite News

The fear of Pegasus-style spyware attack resurfaced on Tuesday after researchers at Microsoft and the digital rights group Citizen Lab identified new victims in North America, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, and the Middle East — once again from an Israel-based spyware maker.

Hackers used QuaDream spyware to send malicious calendar invites and hack the iPhones of journalists, political opposition figures, and an NGO worker.

“Based on an analysis of samples shared with us by Microsoft Threat Intelligence, we developed indicators that enabled us to identify at least five civil society victims of QuaDream’s spyware,” Citizen Lab said in a statement.

The researchers identified traces of a suspected iOS 14 zero-click exploit used to deploy QuaDream’s spyware.

The exploit was deployed as a zero-day against iOS versions 14.4 and 14.4.2, and possibly other versions.

“The suspected exploit, which we call ‘ENDOFDAYS’, appears to make use of invisible iCloud calendar invitations sent from the spyware’s operator to victims,” said Citizen Lab of the University of Toronto’s Munk School.

Microsoft Threat Intelligence analysts named the threat group as “DEV-0196” linked to Israel-based private sector offensive actor (PSOA) known as QuaDream.

QuaDream reportedly sells a platform they call REIGN to governments for law enforcement purposes. REIGN is a suite of exploits, malware, and infrastructure designed to exfiltrate data from mobile devices.

REIGN, like NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware, reportedly utilises zero-click exploits to hack into target devices.

“Citizen Lab was able to identify operator locations for QuaDream systems in the following countries: Bulgaria, Czechia, Hungary, Ghana, Israel, Mexico, Romania, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, and Uzbekistan,” the tech giant revealed.

QuaDream has had a partnership with a Cypriot company called InReach, with whom it is currently embroiled in a legal dispute.

“Numerous key individuals associated with both companies have prior connections with another surveillance vendor, Verint, as well as Israeli intelligence agencies,” the reports mentioned.

An Apple spokesperson was quoted as saying in a TechCrunch report that “there’s no evidence showing the exploit discovered by Microsoft and Citizen Lab has been used after March 2021, when the company released an update”.

QuaDream was mentioned in a December 2022 report from Meta, which reportedly took down 250 accounts associated with the company.

According to the report, Meta observed QuaDream testing its ability to exploit iOS and Android mobile devices with the intent “to exfiltrate various types of data including messages, images, video and audio files, and geolocation”.

ALSO READ: Macron bats for ‘European sovereignty’

Previous Story

Macron bats for ‘European sovereignty’

Next Story

Mumbai thrash Capitals in last-ball thriller

Latest from -Top News

Zero Tariffs? Trump Claims Big Win Over India

Trump Claims India to Eliminate Tariffs on U.S. Imports..reports Asian Lite News U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that India has either already removed or is in the process of removing

Khaleda Zia Returns to Bangladesh

As Khaleda Zia travelled to her Gulshan residence from the airport, hundreds of party workers lined the streets to welcome her return…reports Asian Lite News BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia Returns to Dhaka

UNSC Grills Pakistan Over Pahalgam Attack

Though Pakistan claimed that the meeting largely served and achieved the objectives of the UNSC’s meeting, reports showed that it flopped miserably…reports Asian Lite News The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) reportedly
Go toTop

Don't Miss

FBI ‘tested’ Pegasus spyware’s capabilities

Pegasus is capable of silently infecting phones and accessing camera

Govt not cooperating on Pegasus probe, panel tells SC

The Supreme Court said it will ascertain those portions of