Apple issues urgent security update for all iPhone, iPad and Mac users

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Researchers at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab said they found malicious image files being transmitted to the phone of a Saudi activist, who wished to remain anonymous, via the iMessage instant-messaging app. Calling the iMessage exploit Forcedentry, Citizen Lab said that the security vulnerability makes the phones susceptible to eavesdropping and remote data theft, and that it applied to all Apple devices. The NSO group licenses its Pegasus spyware tool to government agencies and police forces to investigate criminal activity, but Citizen Lab researcher Bill Marczak said: “We’re not necessarily attributing this attack to the Saudi government.” Issuing a statement, the NSO Group said that it will continue providing tools for fighting "terror and crime". Apple security chief Ivan Krstic also issued a statement saying that “after identifying the vulnerability used by this exploit for iMessage, Apple rapidly developed and deployed a fix in iOS 14.8 to protect our users”.