In 2021, the infamous Pegasus spyware was found to have infiltrated the phones of 1,400 individuals globally, including human rights activists, lawyers and activists in various countries across the globe.
Now a new spyware called Hermit has been discovered by researchers which appears to be more capable. Hermit is distributed via SMS messages pretending to come from a legitimate sources like telecom operators and smartphone manufacturers. When you click on the link it will open up the actual webpage, to maintain the illusion, while secretly kickstarting malicious activities in the background.
Researchers from Lookout suspect that this spyware was made by Tykelab, a telecom solutions company, and RCS Lab, a secretive Italian developer with a clientele similar to Israel’s NSO Group and Germany’s Gamma Group.
Hermit has been deployed in Italy in 2019. A document released by the Italian parliament in 2021, reportedly suggests that the spyware was used in an anti-corruption operation.
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