A spy tool developed by former U.S. government intelligence operatives reportedly allowed the United Arab Emirates government to remotely hack the iPhones of diplomats, activists and even foreign leaders.
The tool apparently didn’t require the victim to click a link, but could somehow be activated simply by loading in the phone numbers or email addresses of the intended targets …
Reuters reports that, once activated, the UAE government was able to obtain photos, emails, text messages and location data from the iPhones. Additionally, it provided access to passwords, which could then be used for further attacks.
No information is provided about how the tool worked, but it was apparently iPhone-specific. The piece says that the development team paid for the exploit used to develop Karma.
The […] operatives described Karma as a tool that could remotely grant access to iPhones simply by uploading phone numbers or email accounts into an automated targeting system. The tool has limits — it doesn’t work on Android devices and doesn’t intercept phone calls. But it was unusually potent because, unlike many exploits, Karma did not require a target to click on a link sent to an iPhone, they said.
Reuters’ sources said that the tool was used in 2016 and 2017, before an Apple security update.
It was previously believed that fewer than a dozen nations possessed the capabilities needed to develop such tools.
Unsurprisingly, both Apple and the UAE government declined to comment.
We recently revealed a major security failing in FaceTime that allowed a caller to hear and see someone before the call was answered. Apple has taken FaceTime group calling offline until it has fixed the bug.
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