Snoops plant info-stealing malware on iPhones, Google warns

A new exploit kit targeting iPhone users and stealing their sensitive data is being abused by “multiple” spyware vendors and suspected nation-state goons, security researchers said on Wednesday.

The exploit kit, called DarkSword, has been in use since at least November 2025. It supports iOS versions 18.4 through 18.7, and exploits six different vulnerabilities to deploy three different backdoors that steal a ton of personal information, including messages, recordings, location history, signed-in accounts, cryptocurrency wallet data, and more.

In coordinated research published Wednesday, Google, iVerify, and Lookout analyzed the malware and noted that this is the second time this month that they’ve spotted disparate criminal groups using a single iOS exploit kit to spy on iPhone users. The earlier exploit framework is called Coruna, and one of the earlier groups abusing Coruna – a suspected Russian espionage crew tracked as UNC6353 – has also been using DarkSword in its watering…