Apple issues security patch after Toronto-based Citizen Lab flags vulnerability

Apple released an emergency software patch to fix a security vulnerability that researchers said could allow hackers to directly infect Apple devices without any user action.

The researchers at the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab said the flaw allowed spyware from the world's most infamous hacker-for-hire firm, NSO Group, to directly infect the iPhone of a Saudi activist. The flaw affected all Apple's operating systems, the researchers said. It was the first time a so-called "zero-click" exploit had been caught and analyzed, said the researchers, who found the malicious code on Tuesday and immediately alerted Apple. They said they had high confidence the Israeli company NSO Group was behind the attack, adding that the targeted activist asked to remain anonymous. "We're not necessarily attributing this attack to the Saudi government," said researcher Bill Marczak. Although Citizen Lab previously found evidence of zero-click exploits being used to hack into the phones of al-Jazeera journalists and other targets, "this is the first one where the exploit has been captured so we can find out how it works," said Marczak. Security experts say that average iPhone, iPad and Mac users generally don't need to worry because such attacks are highly targeted, however, the discovery still alarmed security professionals.