Apple mulled for immediate global update of its operating system following reports that of a powerful espionage software was targeting an iPhone unit in the Middle East.

In a report, Lookout and internet watchdog Citizen Lab said an Israeli company NSO Group attempted-but-failed to break into the iPhone of an Arab activist.

Mike Murrary, a researcher with Lookout, described the program as "the most sophisticated spyware package we have seen in the market," according to an ABC15 report.

The report also outlined how the spyware could compromise an iPhone with the tap of a finger, a trick so coveted in the world of cyberespionage that one spyware broker claimed that it had paid a $1 million dollar bounty to programmers who'd found a way to do it.

The software could also allow hackers to take control of any iPhone to spy on calls and messages.

In a statement, the NSO Group denied knowledge of the particular incident.