iPhone will be protected from Pegasus surveillance. iOS 16 with the new Lockdown Mode

Apple devices have been considered reliable and safe for years. The company prided (and continues to pride itself) on the privacy of its customers as one of its top priorities. A story from 2016 can be recalled here. As a result, FBI agents had to spend at least $ 1.3 million to breach these safeguards themselves.

In recent months, however, scratches have appeared on the crystal image of Apple. It turned out that at least two companies used vulnerabilities in Apple’s software to break its security. One of these companies is, of course, the NSO Group, the mysterious Israeli entity responsible for creating the Pegasus spyware.

Independent researchers from Citizen Lab have confirmed a number of hacks with the use of this program on phones belonging, among others to politicians or human rights activists.

Lockdown Mode Apple

Lockdown Mode in iOS 16. It is to be “Pegasus resistant”

Regardless of the actions of law enforcement agencies, Apple has conducted its own investigation into the matter. In its course, the company determined that Pegasus exploited a vulnerability related to attachment handling by the Messages application.

To prevent these and similar threats, the company announced the introduction of iOS, iPadOS and MacOS to the new versions (all of them will debut in autumn this year). the new Lockdown Modewhich is to provide users with an “extra layer of protection”.

Apple creates the most secure mobile devices on the market. Lockdown Mode is a groundbreaking feature that reflects our unwavering commitment to protecting users from even the rarest, most sophisticated attacks

– said Ivan Krstić, head of engineering and security architecture at Apple.

While the vast majority of users will never fall victim to highly targeted cyber attacks, we will work tirelessly to protect the small number of users who fall victim to cyber attacks. This includes further designing security features specifically for these users, as well as supporting scientists and organizations around the world doing critical work in exposing the mercenary companies that are responsible for these digital attacks.

– added.

As the company explains, after starting the device’s Lockdown Mode, it will automatically block most of the attachments sent by the application Messagesas well as connections FaceTime from unknown numbers. Additionally, this mode will block wired connections when the iPhone is locked. This, in turn, is a response to the actions of the Israeli company Cellebrite, whose software made it possible to take control of iPhones connected “under the cable”.

Apple’s decision has already been commented on by, inter alia, John Scott-Railton of CitizenLab, who was instrumental in exposing mass surveillance using Pegasus software. He stated that Lockdown Mode is a “radical reduction” of threats to Apple devices.

“I also hope to see similar efforts from other companies,” he added.