"Apple's High Security Mode Blocked NSO Spyware, Researchers Say"

A year ago, Apple introduced a new feature called Lockdown Mode for iPhone users who feared being targeted by sophisticated spyware, such as journalists and human rights activists. Researchers have now discovered evidence that Lockdown Mode helped thwart an attack by hackers involving spyware developed by the infamous mercenary hacking provider NSO Group. Citizen Lab, a cybersecurity and human rights research organization, published a report analyzing three new zero-day exploits in iOS 15 and iOS 16, indicating that Apple was unaware of the vulnerabilities when at least two Mexican human rights defenders were targeted. The researchers discovered that one of these exploits was blocked by Lockdown Mode. This is the first known instance in which Lockdown Mode effectively prevented a targeted attack. In the recent cases, Citizen Lab researchers reported that the iPhones belonging to the targets blocked hacking attempts and displayed a notification stating that Lockdown Mode prevented access to the Home app. However, the researchers emphasized that NSO's exploit developers may have figured out a solution to the notification issue at some point, such as by fingerprinting Lockdown Mode. This article continues to discuss Apple's Lockdown Mode blocking NSO spyware. 

TechCrunch reports "Apple's High Security Mode Blocked NSO Spyware, Researchers Say"