Apple Emergency Updates Address a Spyware Vulnerability

Users of Apple devices are advised to immediately update their devices: 

iPhone, iPad & iPod Touch iOS update to 14.8
Here are the instructions on how to update any of the above listed devices   

MacOS Big Sur 11.6 & Mac OS Catalina has an update available as well
Here are the instructions for MacOS updates, including Safari  

WatchOS 7.6.2
 Here are the update instructions for Watch.  

These emergency updates were issued by Apple in response to spyware, developed by the NSO group, which is being used by malicious actors to target journalists, politicians, lawyers, doctors, dissidents and others. What distinguishes this spyware is the following; 

  • The installation can be invisible to the device owner and can occur without user interaction (a zero- click vulnerability). 
  • It can provide malicious actors full access to your device including the camera, microphone, recording capabilities, text messages . . .etc.   

Resources: 

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/13/technology/apple-software-update-spyware-nso-group.html?referringSource=articleShare

https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/apple-ios-14-8-pegasus-security-fix-all-iphone-users-urged-to-update-immediately/