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The company behind a WhatsApp hack is touted to be able to penetrate the cloud computing services of large, high-tech companies including Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft, reports the Financial Times.
The Israeli security group NSO is renowned for its malware, Pegasus, which, according to the FT, had been used in May to hack the phones of human rights defenders using a simple call from WhatsApp. The malware could arrive on the target's phone even if it did not detect.
NSO now informs potential customers that Pegasus has been developed to target cloud servers, according to people familiar with the sales pitch and documents shared with FT. NSO reportedly stated in its speech that, by hacking these servers, it could access the full history of location data, archived messages and photos of someone.
According to the sales documents consulted by FT, the method is to copy the authentication keys for services such as Google Drive, Facebook Messenger and iCloud, from a targeted phone. Once this is done, a separate server can borrow the identity of the device without alerting the actual owner.
The paper says that even if the malware was removed from the device, attackers could still have unlimited access to data uploaded to the cloud, the Financial Times reported.
Read more: Get to know the shadow of the Israeli security firm whose technology would be at the heart of the gigantic WhatsApp hacking
"There is a fundamental misunderstanding of the NSO, its services and technology, and its products do not provide the kind of capabilities for collecting and accessing applications, services or cloud infrastructure, such as 39, stated and suggested in the FT article today, "said an OSN spokeswoman to Business Insider, adding that the NSO products are designed to target "terrorists and criminals" who coordinate their activities through encrypted technologies.
"Our products are licensed on a small scale to government intelligence agencies and law enforcement agencies for the sole purpose of preventing or investigating serious crimes, including the terrorism, "she said.
Some of the major technology companies mentioned in the report are currently conducting surveys.
"We have no evidence that the software in question has accessed Amazon's enterprise systems, including accounts receivable, and we take the privacy and security of customers very seriously and will continue to investigate the problem." to monitor it, "said Amazon's Business Insider spokesperson. .
Facebook added: "Protecting the security of people's accounts is a top priority, and we're looking at those requests."
Microsoft told the FT that its security technology is constantly evolving. Apple told the newspaper that its operating system is "the safest and most secure computing platform in the world."
"Although some expensive tools may exist to perform targeted attacks on a very small number of devices, we do not think they are useful for widespread attacks against consumers," added Apple.
Google declined to comment when it was contacted by the FT.
Apple, Google and Microsoft were not immediately available for comment when they were contacted by Business Insider.
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