3 ms·

Haven't read about Pegasus, but what you describe is the behavior of bootkits. Factory reset does not imply that you erase 100% of your permanent storage: some

by negus 3y ago

Haven't read about Pegasus, but what you describe is the behavior of bootkits. Factory reset does not imply that you erase 100% of your permanent storage: some part of it should contain the system programs to restore the system. If these system programs or the clean OS image are modified, then factory reset won't help

scintill76 3y ago
I don’t know about the original claim either way, but I would be even more impressed and scared if it survived an iTunes restore (basically a PC reflashes the iPhone’s OS image with an image downloaded from Apple.)
- negus 3y ago
  If the malware controls the bootloader nothing will help: it can imitate any kind of restore, modifying the OS image on the fly
  - heywhatupboys 3y ago
    everything is signed. should not be even remotely possible
    - negus 3y ago
      Should. But we are talking about software vulnerabilities here. It means that things do not work as intended.
    - saagarjha 3y ago
      All code is signed on Apple’s platforms. Most exploits have a codesigning bypass of some sort.
  - scintill76 3y ago
    Apple has firmware restore features in ROM. I would also assume (hope?) that there’s a procedure to enter the ROM-based restore that is impossible to intercept in software (maybe holding the power button for 10 seconds initiates a hardware reset into the ROM.)
    - saagarjha 3y ago
      There is.