Apple has sent a new round of threat notifications to iPhone users in 98 countries, warning them of possible mercenary spyware attacks. This is the company’s second such alert campaign this year, following a similar notification sent to users in 92 countries in April.
Apple has been sending these notifications regularly since 2021, reaching users in more than 150 countries, according to a support document posted on the company’s website. The latest warnings, posted Wednesday, did not reveal the identity of the attackers or the countries in which users received the notifications.
“Apple has detected that you are the target of a mercenary spyware attack that is attempting to remotely compromise the iPhone associated with your Apple ID -xxx-,” the company wrote in the warning to affected customers.
“This attack likely targets you specifically because of who you are or what you do. While it is never possible to achieve absolute certainty when detecting such attacks, Apple has high confidence in this warning. Please take it seriously,” Apple added in the text.
Users in India are among those receiving Apple’s latest threat notifications, according to user reports. In October, Apple sent similar warnings to several journalists and politicians in the country. Amnesty International, a human rights group, later reported that it had discovered Pegasus, a highly invasive spyware developed by Israeli firm NSO Group, on the iPhones of prominent Indian journalists.
In its communication to affected users, Apple emphasized the sensitive nature of its threat identification methods, warning that disclosing additional details could potentially help attackers evade future detection.
Apple has also made a notable shift in its language since last year, choosing to describe these incidents as “mercenary spyware attacks” instead of the previously used term “state-sponsored attacks.”
Apple said it relies solely on “internal threat intelligence and investigations to detect such attacks.”
News Source : techcrunch.com
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