Key IOCs for Pegasus and Predator Spyware Removed with iOS 26 Update
11 comments
·October 25, 2025benzible
If we didn't already know this, Apple's previous positioning as the privacy company was just branding with zero actual conviction behind it. Now, just as ICE contracts with Paragon for zero-click spyware that bypasses encrypted apps, Apple erases the key forensic artifact for detecting state-sponsored mobile surveillance. Along with Cook's cash-and-gold-for-tariff-exemptions scheme, they're racing to the bottom with the rest of big tech.
neilv
Can we assume that Apple will continue to fail to secure the iPhone against these spyware companies?
darkoob12
I always suspected someone inside Apple is making sure that these phones stay vulnerable for Israeli hackers or they don't really fix their bugs.
notepad0x90
it's possible,but iphones are apple's flagship product. it would be disastrous for them. i don't think any government contract is worth the cost. They're not google or Microsoft, they're not that big in the enterprise side of things.
I'm sure if such a relationship became public,most Americans will forget about it in few weeks time and half will be surprised what the big deal is. But apple will lose out on Asia and Europe where it has solid competition. Their hardware is their bread-and-butter.
It is more plausible for the US government to have planted or extorted an asset working as a developer at apple than apple itself making such a monumentally foolish decision.
Google and Microsoft on the other hand, that I am fairly certain of.
But... i digress a bit, only because Tim Cook was kissing the proverbial king's ring a lot lately. donations are one thing, giving gold gifts in person and on national tv is another.
sschueller
Tim Cook gifted trump a gold base with a glass plate on it like some peasant to a king in front of camers. Apple will bend over backwards to please governments so don't be surprised when it turns out not everything is as secure as claimed in their walled garden.
aucisson_masque
> I'm sure if such a relationship became public,most Americans will forget about it in few weeks time and half will be surprised what the big deal is. But apple will lose out on Asia and Europe where it has solid competition. Their hardware is their bread-and-butter.
Everyone is somewhat aware that their phone are not impermeable to government agencies and it doesn't matter, that's the case for Americans of course because they are well used to it, but also for Europeans.
If they were to purposely make 'mistake' to allow Israeli spying companies to compromise their phone, it most likely wouldn't change anything.
andrewflnr
> It is more plausible for the US government to have planted or extorted an asset working as a developer at apple
This is indeed how I read the comment you replied to.
userbinator
I hope they're making them stay vulnerable for jailbreakers.
notepad0x90
I just wanna say how ridiculous it is that forensics on iphones is done via backup archives. If apple at least included a full system memory dump along with the backup that'd be better. If only the allowed system-extensions like on macos that run in EL1+ for security monitoring.
The article doesn’t define “IOC”, so if (like me) you didn’t know the abbreviation: Indicators Of Compromise.
(They actually do use the expanded form in the article, just without some parentheses afterwards on the first usage of the phrase.)
Maybe everyone but me knows the abbreviation, but in case it helps _someone_ out there!