An iPhone-like hole has also been found in Android and Windows systems. These attacks were directed against an ethnic minority in China that already suffers from great cyber surveillance by the country.
The unprecedented attack on Apple iPhones revealed by Google this week is proving to be far more serious than initially thought. Multiple sources familiar with the situation commented that Google's own Android operating system and computers running Windows were also targeted in a campaign aimed at infecting the computers and smartphones of the Uyghur ethnic group in China. This community has been targeted by the Chinese government, particularly in the Xinjiang region, where surveillance is widespread and the right to privacy is virtually nonexistent, even by Chinese standards.
The fact that Android and Windows have also been hacked is proof that the hackers were part of a vast two-year effort that has been around for more than two years and is not just limited to Apple phones and infected many more. of what was suspected. That the attack has so many operating systems is because they adapted to different operating systems as the use of technology by the Uighur community changed.
Mass hacking against Chinese minorities
It's not known for certain whether Google knew that the sites hacking iPhones were also capable of hacking Android and Windows. Google informed Apple which sites had been attacked in February, and Apple researchers revealed the attacks on August 29. However, Google has yet to name which specific Uyghur sites were used to launch malicious code on iPhones.
It is not clear exactly which exploits were used to hack Android and Windows or which ones were used, or if they were used on the same sites for attacks against Apple systems.
Source : Forbes