A leak on Wikileaks, part of the “Vault 7” segment has recently became famous for tricks used by the Central Intelligence Agency to hack Apple devices. Those were targeted at Apple MacOS and iOS mobile devices.
And not only this but the so-called “Dark Matter” leak uncovers plans of exploiting vulnerabilities in the macOS and those exploits are performed by a special branch, known as EDB – Embedded Development Branch, The Hacker News report.
The Malware Used
In the documents released in the leak, it has been uncovered that a very specific tailor-made malware for the firmware of the Apple devices was created so that the infection files remain active even if the devices are factory reset.
One of the tools reported to be used is the so-called NightSkies 1.2 which is an implant instrument also known as a loader. This tool runs on devices like MaBook air and it reportedly provides the ability to control the device partially or even fully. In addition to this, this tool is also create to leave almost no trace behind, according to the leak.
Furthermore, another hacking tool, tailor made for iPhones was reported to be active ever since the distant year 2007 and the infection by this tool has been conducted on brand new iPhones that are fresh out of the factories. The CIA were also reported in the documents to have had physical access to the phones during their shipping process to far away or to the U.S. from the supplier.
Another hacking tool released in the whistle blower document is known as the Sonic Screwdriver. This software was actually a mechanism to execute a script to infect a MacBook or a desktop Mac during the boot process.
This method has been reported in the documents to enable the access to the Firmware of the computers using an ethernet connection, physically plugged into the Mac’s Thunderbolt connector.
The tool also provides the ability to bring viruses from another device without detection. And the infection with those viruse scan happen from external devices uninterrupted, even if the Mac computer has an enabled password for it’s firmware.
And in addition to multiple IOS exploits, some of which were fixed, there is also information on hacking other devices, like Android smartphones, Samsung smart TV devices and others, which are used by the masses.
Ventsislav Krastev
Ventsislav is a cybersecurity expert at SensorsTechForum since 2015. He has been researching, covering, helping victims with the latest malware infections plus testing and reviewing software and the newest tech developments. Having graduated Marketing as well, Ventsislav also has passion for learning new shifts and innovations in cybersecurity that become game changers. After studying Value Chain Management, Network Administration and Computer Administration of System Applications, he found his true calling within the cybersecrurity industry and is a strong believer in the education of every user towards online safety and security.
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