Apple: Spyware compromise prevented by Lockdown Mode

TechCrunch reports that Apple has touted that all of its devices with the Lockdown Mode activated have not been impacted by spyware intrusions.

Introduced in 2022 amid escalating government spyware threats against at-risk Apple customers, Lockdown Mode provided opt-in security defenses that shut down certain capabilities in iPhones and other Apple devices that have been weaponized in spyware attacks. Apple's announcement comes after Amnesty International and the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab reported multiple successful iPhone-targeted attacks using the Pegasus and Predator spyware, which were unable to penetrate Lockdown Mode. Meanwhile, Apple cybersecurity expert Patrick Wardle attributed the effectiveness of Apple's Lockdown Mode, which he noted to be among the "most aggressive consumer-facing hardening features ever," to its reduction of the attack surface.

"It kills entire delivery mechanisms/exploit classes as it blocks most message attachment types, restricts WebKit features. This is really a huge reduction in remotely reachable attack surface, especially for zero-click exploit chains," added Wardle.