The cybersecurity community has warned of a new cyberattack targeting Apple’s mobile devices. The attack, “Triangulation”, is a complicated scheme that stealthily hacks the iPhones of certain employees, including those in the web3 industry, explicitly targeting middle and senior management.
Exploit vulnerabilities in Apple’s operating system
This attack exploits vulnerabilities in the iOS operating system and involves sending a hidden iMessage with a malicious payload. When a device is successfully triangulated, the malware installs without the user’s knowledge or consent.
This insidious malware records and transmits audio, video and other data from user’s microphone, instant messaging and location services to remote servers.
Kaspersky Unified Monitoring and Analysis Platform (KUMA), an essential security information and event management tool, led to the discovery of this sophisticated malware.
After detecting network irregularities from Apple devices, KUMA helped cybersecurity researchers uncover triangulation malware on several iPhones belonging to high-ranking personnel.
Unfortunately, the closed iOS environment does not have built-in tools to detect and remove malware. To combat this covert assault, other technologies are needed.
In response to the critical need for early discovery and remediation, security researchers have created a specialized tool called “triangle_check”.
Once extensively tested, this tool will be made freely available to help find signs of compromise in backups produced from Apple devices.
Removing malware from iPhones without compromising users’ private information remains a challenge. The only solution currently available is to reset the affected device to its factory settings and reinstall the latest operating system and user environment.
If these steps are not followed, triangulation can exploit weaknesses in older versions of iOS and infect the device again.
Possible impact on crypto holders
The crypto industry is under threat due to potential hacking of iPhone devices used by crypto users.
This raises concerns about the security and privacy of crypto transactions, as leaked private information such as geolocation data and messages can be exploited by attackers to steal crypto from wallets, compromise transaction security or even steal identities.
Given the stakes, companies must implement strict cybersecurity measures and maintain high vigilance. The risk of falling prey to triangulation and similar sophisticated cyberattacks targeting the crypto ecosystem can be reduced by regularly upgrading iOS devices to the latest version, using multi-factor authentication, and practicing security hygiene basic.
