,
6 tweets,
3 min read
Read on Twitter
iPhone hacks have long been considered an endeavor undertaken only by nation-states with high-value targets. But a recent discovery has turned that notion on its head. Someone has been hacking thousands of iPhones just by getting them to visit a website 1/ wired.trib.al/QLOsDCm
Google's Project Zero security research team recently revealed a hacking campaign that used malicious websites to compromise iPhones with powerful monitoring malware. The sites had thousands of visitors per week 2/ wired.trib.al/QLOsDCm 
The attack is notable not just for its breadth, but the depth of information it could glean from a victim's iPhone. It could monitor live location data, grab photos, contacts, and even passwords and other sensitive information from the iOS Keychain 3/ wired.trib.al/QLOsDCm
Before the discovery, the cost of hacking an iPhone was reportedly as much as $2 million. Those assumptions are now entirely upended. If a hacking operation is brazen enough to indiscriminately hack thousands of phones, it can’t be that expensive 4/ wired.trib.al/QLOsDCm
So, who’s behind the hacks? It’s still unclear, but both its sophistication and focus on espionage suggest state-sponsored hackers. The campaign's mass infection tactics indicate it could be a government trying to surveil a large group 5/ wired.trib.al/QLOsDCm
Google says it alerted Apple in February and that Apple released a patch days later. The phonemaker declined to comment about the findings, but based on available info, this is almost certainly the biggest known iPhone hacking incident of all time 6/ wired.trib.al/QLOsDCm
