Tim Cook is the keynote speaker at the 2020 Apple Worldwide Developers Conference.
NSO Group, an Israeli firm that sells software to government agencies and law enforcement that allows them to hack into phones and read their data, was sued by Apple on Tuesday.
The NSO Group has been accused of using the software to attack journalists and human rights lawyers.
Apple is trying to get a permanent injunction to stop NSO Group from using its products.
The NSO Group was banned from using American technology in its operations by the U.S. government.
Apple patched the flaws that allowed the NSO Group software to access private data on iPhones with zero-click attacks, where the software is delivered through a text message and leaves little trace of infection.
Apple said the attacks were limited to a small group of customers, and that it will inform users that they may have been affected.
Apple said that attackers created Apple IDs to send malicious data to a victim's device, which allowed NSO Group or its clients to deliver and install Pegasus spyware without a victim's knowledge. The Apple server was not compromised in the attacks.
The NSO Group is accused of using bugs from the previous day to create its software. Users can protect themselves by updating their software to the latest version once Apple fixes an exploit.
The leaked list of 50,000 phone numbers was obtained by theAmnesty International, after it found evidence of a hacked iPhone 12. NSO Group software is alleged to have been used to monitor relatives and people close to the murdered Washington Post columnist.
The NSO Group is being sued by both Meta and Facebook.
NSO Group was not available for comment. NSO sells its technology to law enforcement and intelligence agencies to prevent crime and terror acts, and that it vets its customers.
This is breaking news. You can check back for updates.
