Recently, a U.S. based firm, Zimperium claimed that it can protect organisations and individuals from Pegasus. Read on to know more…
One booth stood out among the national and international companies displaying the newest advancements in cyber security and intelligence technologies at the International Police Expo held in the New Delhi last week. Despite the fact that the technology did not offer a surveillance solution or a tactical weapon, it managed to attract the attention of India’s internal security and law enforcement agencies. In the last five years, it was a mobile device protection solution that claimed to have protected every iteration of the Pegasus spyware attack.
The United States Department of Defence (DOD) has just awarded Zimperium, a US-based technology firm that specialises in mobile phone security, a contract to offer a comprehensive Mobile Endpoint Protection (MEP) solution. Somesh Sawhney, Zimperium’s regional sales director, said at the event that there was a lot of interest in the technology from both the government and the enterprise sector in India following the recent Pegasus spyware case.
Sawhney disclosed that the initial variant of Pegasus was discovered by Zimperium in 2016, and all of their enterprise and government customers are protected, even if the current variant is a zero-day. He further explained that they are not a cloud-based solution; and they offer a complete on-premise solution, so the phone is still protected even if there are no signature updates or if it is not connected to the internet.
Working Mechanism
A “Mobile Threat Defense” engine is included in the application, which use Machine Learning (ML) to detect device and network behaviour, as well as cyberattacks, in real time. It is optimised for mobile devices and works on iOS, Android, and Chromebook platforms. The “on-device solution” sits on top of the operating system, identifies and notifies users about cyber threats, and then mitigates them, according to a Zimperium official.
While the technology sounds similar to adaptive threat defence, also known as heuristic detection, which has been used in anti-virus and anti-malware apps on mobile phones and computers for years, it’s possible that Zimperium has a secret technique that also protects devices from zero-day attacks like those used by Pegasus and other spyware programas. It’s worth noting, though, that Pegasus and other spyware employ incredibly complex and unknown zero-day bugs to infect devices. Anti-virus and anti-malware software are usually useless against these zero-day attacks.
Acknowledgements
Speaking of the US defence contract, Sawhney said that the company is fortunate to secure this eight-figure contract from the US Department of Defense and added that they are securing the devices of US military officers. The US Department of Defense recognise that mobile phone devices are the most vulnerable endpoint, and they are working to secure their officials from cyberattacks like the Pegasus spyware.
The Dallas-based technology firm has numerous Fortune 500 organisations on its client list and was chosen by Google as one of three technological solutions to scan apps on its Play Store. Sawhney said that his firm have huge references in every sector, including the financial sector, automobiles, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and other sectors.
Since the Pegasus incident resurfaced earlier this year, the company has seen an influx of inquiries from both public and private sector clients in India.
Global Requirements
The firm has been providing its services to governments and large corporations around the world, claiming that its services are cost-effective and far less expensive than the risk of a cybersecurity breach. Sawhney added that the cost of an attack on a company may be 20 to 50 times higher than the cost of this technology. In today’s zero trust world, it’s a very cost-effective solution when compared to the amount of money any company spends on information security.
A Brief Conclusion
Although the U.S. based firm, Zimperium claimed that it can protect organisations and individuals from Pegasus spyware, it is still not clear whether if it offers protection against the previous exploits of Pegasus or the new zero-day attacks.