Apple releases security update on Pegasus hack

Cyber surveillance company NSO Group has used new methods to deploy its military grade spyware Pegasus by leveraging previously unknown flaws in Apple’s software, prompting the company to issue a security update to millions of its customers late on Monday.

The new version of the spyware was found by Canadian cyber security researchers at Citizen Labs, who discovered Pegasus implanted in the phone of a Saudi activist. The software flaw, like the others NSO is reported to have often leveraged, was particularly worrying since it allowed for the spyware to be inserted silently without needing to fool the victim into opening suspicious links or files.