Spyware crafted by 'advanced cyber actor' infected multiple targeted mobile phones through WhatsApp, company says.
Spyware crafted by a sophisticated group of hackers-for-hire took advantage of a flaw in the popular WhatsApp communications program to remotely hijack dozens of phones, the company said late Monday.
John Scott-Railton, a researcher with the internet watchdog Citizen Lab, called the hack"a very scary vulnerability."The spokesman said the flaw was discovered while"our team was putting some additional security enhancements to our voice calls" and that engineers found that people targeted for infection"might get one or two calls from a number that is not familiar to them. In the process of calling, this code gets shipped.
The revelation adds to the questions over the reach of the Israeli company's powerful spyware, which takes advantage of digital flaws to hijack smartphones, control their cameras and effectively turn them into pocket-sized surveillance devices. Monday, Amnesty International — which said last year that one its staffers was also targeted with the spyware — said it would join in a legal bid to force Israel's Ministry of Defense to suspend NSO's export license.
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