New exploits were found in the wild, being used to target human rights activists, that could take over your phone with one click on a link in a text message or through another vector.
Unlike Google’s Android, Apple was able to roll out a fix for this issue very quickly to affected devices running iOS 9 once it was discovered. iOS 9.3.5 is now available. Launch the Settings app and go to General -> Software Update -> Tap on Download and Install and install the update if you have not done so already.
The exploit was able to completely hijack a target device according to security researchers at Lookout who were interviewed by Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai:
“It basically steals all the information on your phone, it intercepts every call, it intercepts every text message, it steals all the emails, the contacts, the FaceTime calls. It also basically backdoors every communications mechanism you have on the phone,” Murray explained. “It steals all the information in the Gmail app, all the Facebook messages, all the Facebook information, your Facebook contacts, everything from Skype, WhatsApp, Viber, WeChat, Telegram–you name it.”
Apple recently announced a new bug bounty program that rewards those who find issues which could lead to exploits such as this one.
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