Google’s security team has revealed that it has evidence that proves iPhones have been hacked during a period of two years.
The attack affected all models of iPhone and was carried out using websites that would use malicious software to access contacts, images and users personal data.
It wasn’t until January this year that the hacking was disrupted said Google’s researchers.
“There was no target discrimination” according to Ian Beer, who is a security researcher for Google.
In a detailed report called Project Zero, Beer said that once an iPhone user visited a hacked site that this would install a monitoring implant, with the site estimated to receive thousands of visitors each week.
Project Zero works with companies to find and report any vulnerabilities to any software security.
“Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) was able to collect five separate, complete and unique iPhone exploit chains, covering almost every version from iOS 10 through to the latest version of iOS 12. This indicated a group making a sustained effort to hack the users of iPhones in certain communities over a period of at least two years,” Beer said in his report.
In total 14 vulnerabilities across five exploit chains were discovered, with seven of those to do with the iPhone’s web browser ‘Safari’.
Google reported the issues to Apple on February 1, with the US vendor releasing an updated OS update on February 7 to overcome the issues.
Beer concluded in his report: “Real users make risk decisions based on the public perception of the security of these devices. The reality remains that security protections will never eliminate the risk of attack if you’re being targeted.”
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