Breach, Content, MSSP

Hackers Leverage Apple iOS Vulnerability to Attack MSSPs

Phone in the dark

Cybercriminals are using an Apple iOS vulnerability to attack MSSPs and enterprises, according to cybersecurity startup ZecOps. To date, hackers have used the vulnerability to attack MSSPs from Saudi Arabia and Israel, along with executives and organizations from around the world.

Still, Apple is pushing back against the report -- saying there's no evidence that the iPhone email flaw was used against customers, Reuters reports.

ZecOps has a different perspective. The company says the iOS cyberattacks involve the delivery of a personalized email to a victim's mailbox to trigger the vulnerability in the context of the iOS MobileMail application on iOS 12 or 13, ZecOps stated. After a malicious email is received and processed on a victim's iOS device, corresponding emails that should have been received and stored on the mail-server may be deleted.

At least one nation-state threat operator or a nation-state that purchased the exploit from a third-party researcher may be involved in the iOS cyberattacks, ZecOps noted. Meanwhile, ZecOps identified the iOS security vulnerability during a routine iOS digital forensics and incident response (DFIR) investigation and found suspicious events that affected the default iOS Mail application on iOS dating as far back as January 2018.

All tested versions of iOS are vulnerable to the aforementioned cyberattacks. As such, ZecOps recommends iOS users update their devices to guard against these attacks.

Dan Kobialka

Dan Kobialka is senior contributing editor, MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E. He covers IT security, IT service provider business strategies and partner programs. Dan holds a M.A. in Print and Multimedia Journalism from Emerson College and a B.A. in English from Bridgewater State University. In his free time, Dan enjoys jogging, traveling, playing sports, touring breweries and watching football.