The Israeli company NSO Group, which specializes in developing spy software, has hacked iPhones again with zero-click attacks. This could be accessed via HomeKit, 9to5mac reports.

Zero-click attacks compromise a device without the user’s intervention. Clients are often governments that want to spy on political opponents, journalists, lawyers and human rights activists.

The right software for this is provided by the Israeli company NSO Group. In the recent past, there have been at least three different zero-click attacks on human rights groups in Mexico, which were found by Citizen Lab and reported to Apple. In the meantime, the attacks are said to no longer be possible in this form.

The attacks exploited two vulnerabilities in the “Find My” app. A third attack called “PWNYOURHOME” targeted HomeKit.

Lockdown Mode prevented access

Apple had introduced the so-called Lockdown Mode last year to protect iPhone users from zero-click attacks. The mode is designed specifically for people who feel they are in serious danger from government surveillance. In this case, the mode had blocked access to HomeKit and informed the user about the attack.

However, as a normal user, you don’t want to enable the Lockdown Mode because it comes with numerous restrictions. Certain websites, apps and features are severely restricted or no longer available at all for security reasons.