Apple has issued threat notifications to iPhone users in 92 countries, warning them of potential mercenary spyware attacks. The alerts were sent out at 12 p.m. Pacific Time on Wednesday. The company did not disclose the attackers’ identities or the countries where users received notifications.
The warning stated, “Apple detected that you are being targeted by a mercenary spyware attack that is trying to remotely compromise the iPhone associated with your Apple ID.” It further added that the attack is likely targeting individuals specifically because of who they are or what they do. Although it’s never possible to achieve absolute certainty when detecting such attacks, Apple has high confidence in this warning and urged users to take it seriously.
Apple has been sending these kinds of notifications and has notified users of such threats in over 150 countries since 2021. The company described the attackers as “state-sponsored” but has replaced all such references with “mercenary spyware attacks.” The warning to customers added, “Mercenary spyware attacks, such as those using Pegasus from the NSO Group, are exceptionally rare and vastly more sophisticated than regular cybercriminal activity or consumer malware.”
Apple relies solely on internal threat-intelligence information and investigations to detect such attacks. The company stated, “Although our investigations can never achieve absolute certainty, Apple threat notifications are high-confidence alerts that a user has been individually targeted by a mercenary spyware attack and should be taken very seriously.”
This alert comes at a time when many nations are preparing for elections. In recent months, many tech firms have cautioned about rising state-sponsored efforts to sway certain electoral outcomes. However, Apple’s alerts did not remark on their timing. The company also stated that it is unable to provide more information about what caused it to send this notification, as that may help mercenary spyware attackers adapt their behavior to evade detection in the future.
Read more at: techcrunch.com