Apple issues urgent iPhone update over spyware risk

(KYMA, KECY/ CNN) - Apple has issued an urgent iPhone software update to address critical spyware vulnerability.

The urgent update released on Monday plugs a hole in the iMessage software that allowed hackers to infiltrate a user's phone without the user clicking on any links, according to Citizen Lab.

Independent researchers say the vulnerability has been exploited by notorious surveillance software to spy on a Saudi activist, which has been in use since February and has been used to deploy 'Pegasus'--a spyware made by the Israeli firm NSO group.

Officials say it has been used to spy on journalists and human rights advocates in multiple countries.

The firm has said its software is only sold to vetted customers for counterterrorism and law enforcement purposes. However, researchers say they have found multiple cases in which the spyware was deployed on dissidents or journalists.