Sam Boughedda

Investing.com — Apple Inc (NASDAQ:) announced Tuesday it is suing NSO Group, the Israeli company that creates state-sponsored surveillance technology. NSO Group, which uses Pegasus software for hacking iPhones and reading data from them, collaborates with governments to use its Pegasus program. 

Apple shares fell 0.6% Tuesday.

Apple claimed it wants a permanent order to prohibit NSO Group using Apple services and software. It would effectively make Apple’s software inoperable.

Apple says that while the attack is limited to a few users but can impact people on many platforms such as iOS and Android, it could be devastating for everyone.

Although the tech company claims that they have fixed the vulnerability that allowed Apple to be hacked, journalists and researchers documented the use of the spyware to attack journalists, activists, dissidents and academics.

“To deliver FORCEDENTRY to Apple devices, attackers created Apple IDs to send malicious data to a victim’s device — allowing NSO Group or its clients to deliver and install Pegasus spyware without a victim’s knowledge,” the company explained, while reiterating “Apple servers were not hacked.”

Craig Federighi is Apple’s Senior Vice President of Software Engineering. He stated that “State-sponsored actors such as the NSO Group invest millions of dollars in sophisticated surveillance technology without effective accountability. This must change.

NSO Group has been sued by Apple, but it is not the first. Facebook (NASDAQ.) has also sued the group. They claim that they exploited a flaw in their Whatsapp messenger app and used it to download malware.