Apple warns users of “mercenary spyware” attack; India, 91 other countries impacted: Report

The iPhone maker’s notification warning to users would specify if a user “being targeted by a mercenary spyware attack that is trying to remotely compromise the iPhone”, The Economic Times (ET) reported.

Apple has also made it clear that “the vast majority of users will never be targeted by such attacks, as mercenary spyware attacks are often likely to target specific users because of who they are or what they do. 

The company has also updated one of its support pages detailing what mercenary attacks are.

“Such attacks are vastly more complex than regular cybercriminal activity and consumer malware, as mercenary spyware attackers apply exceptional resources to target a very small number of specific individuals and their devices,” the ET report said, citing the threat notification.

These attacks — like NSO Group’s Pegasus — cost millions of dollars and have a short shelf life, making them much harder to detect and prevent.

There have been reports that such spyware attacks have been deployed to target journalists, activists, politicians, and diplomats across the world.

Apple said since 2021, it has sent Apple threat notifications multiple times a year as and when such attacks have been detected.

So far, Apple has notified users in over 150 countries, including India.

Last year in October, there were reports of users in India getting these threat notifications on their iPhones.

“We are unable to provide information about what causes us to issue threat notifications, as that may help mercenary spyware attackers adapt their behaviour to evade detection in the future,” Apple said on the support page.

The company said that to verify that an Apple threat notification is genuine, users need to sign in to their Apple ID. “If Apple sent you a threat notification, it will be visible at the top of the page after you sign in,” explains on the support page.