Apple recently revealed that a security flaw in its Messages app, now patched, was exploited in cyber attacks targeting civil society members.
The vulnerability, known as CVE-2025-43200, was fixed on February 10, 2025, in updates for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and visionOS.
The flaw allowed for attacks when processing a malicious photo or video shared via iCloud Link.
Apple confirmed that this flaw was exploited in advanced attacks against specific individuals.
Another zero-day vulnerability, CVE-2025-24200, was also addressed in the same updates.
The Citizen Lab discovered that the flaw was used to target journalists and infect them with spyware.
Both journalists were notified by Apple of the targeting and infection.
Graphite spyware, developed by Paragon, can access various data on devices without user interaction.
Paragon has terminated contracts with Italy due to concerns over phone hacking allegations.
The Italian government rejected Paragon’s offer to independently verify the allegations.
Parliamentary reports confirmed the use of Graphite spyware for security activities in Italy.
European Union has raised concerns over the use of commercial spyware.
Apple’s threat notification system alerts users of potential targeted attacks.
The Return of Predator
Recorded Future’s Insikt Group reported a resurgence of Predator-related activity.
New victim-facing servers and connections to Predator infrastructure were identified.
Predator operators have been active in several countries, especially in Africa.
There is a growing demand for spyware tools in countries facing export restrictions.
