In August 2016, Apple issued updates to iOS and macOS that patched three zero-day vulnerabilities that were being exploited in the wild to remotely install persistent malcode on a target’s device if they tapped on a specially crafted link. We linked the vulnerabilities and malcode to US-owned, Israel-based NSO Group, a government-exclusive surveillance vendor described by one of its founders as “a complete ghost”.

Imagine discovering a zero-click attack targeting Apple mobile devices of your colleagues and managing to capture all the stages of the attack. That’s exactly what happened to us! This led to the fixing of four zero-day vulnerabilities and discovering of a previously unknown and highly sophisticated spyware that had been around for years without anyone noticing. We call it Operation Triangulation. We've been teasing this story for almost six months, while thoroughly analyzing every stage of the attack. Now, for the first time, we're ready to tell you all about it. This is the story of the most sophisticated attack chain and spyware ever discovered by Kaspersky.