The iMazing file manager and transfer application includes in its latest update a feature that allows you to check your iPhone for the Pegasus malware with just a few clicks. Here is how to use it.
Pegasus spyware, published by the Israeli company NSO, has reportedly been used by some authoritarian governments to spy on more than 50,000 smartphones belonging to journalists, heads of state, ministers, activists and other political opponents. Faced with this gigantic spy scandal, revealed a few weeks ago by the Forbidden Stories consortium and several international media, Amnesty International has posted a tool online to determine whether an iPhone has been infected with this spy software.
Unfortunately, the use and implementation of the Mobile Verification Toolkit (MVT), the tool developed by Amnesty International Security Lab experts, is not within everyone’s reach.
The procedure to be carried out, which we have detailed in this article, is indeed quite tedious to set up for the uninitiated.
To simplify the process, the editor of iMazing, a backup and file transfer software, has integrated in the last update of its utility, a function to detect in a few clicks if your device is concerned. iMazing is paid software, but it offers a free trial version in which this Pegasus detection module is accessible. Here’s how to check if your iPhone has been infected and spied on without your knowledge.
Also to discover in video:
1. Download and install iMazing
If you haven’t already, download and install the iMazing utility on your machine. Available in a free trial version on Windows and macOS, this backup and file management software, which makes it possible to easily transfer content from a computer to an iPhone, inaugurates in its latest version (stamped 2.14.1), a spyware detection function of which Pegasus is part.
The software has integrated MVT, the open source tool made available by Amnesty International to detect signs of Pegasus infections on mobile devices.
2. Launch iMazing
Open iMazing, then in the Welcome window displayed by the software, click Continue Trial to open the free trial version of the program.
Then connect your iPhone to your PC or Mac using its cable and unlock the screen by entering your passcode or using Face ID or Touch ID.
On your iPhone, a window Trust this computer? is displayed. Tap Yes and enter your iPhone unlock code to accept and allow connection with your computer.
You should then be able to view your iPhone’s lock screen in the iMazing window. The program immediately proposes to launch a backup. Ignore this suggestion by clicking on the Later button.
3. Start the analysis
From the iMazing main window, scroll through the list of software functions displayed in the center, and click the Detect Spyware option.
In the window detailing the actions to be performed by the utility, click Next.
The following window proposes to customize the Threat indicators as well as the Analysis report. Do not touch any of these options and click Next.
Then activate the backup encryption by clicking the Activate button so that all files on your iPhone are backed up correctly.
Then enter a protection password for your encrypted backup, and enter it again in the Verify field to validate your password and press OK. Then click on the Next button.
Now check both I have read, understand and agree to the license terms and I understand the scope and limitations of this tool to accept the license to use the utility and click Start Scan.
Keep in mind that iMazing can detect the presence of Pegasus, but not remove spyware if your iPhone is infected.
iMazing then performs a backup of your iPhone before launching the analysis of the backed up files.
At the end of the process, the software displays the result in a pop-up, with the possibility of opening or viewing the resulting report to access the details of the analysis.