In a latest alert sent to some users in India and 91 other countries, Apple has warned them that their iPhone could have been potentially attacked by a mercenary spyware. The Cupertino-based tech giant, however, has not attributed the recent wave of attacks to any stakeholder.
The threat notification emails were sent at around 12.30 am IST on Thursday (April 11) to impacted users in India. It is unclear how many people have received the threat notification from Apple. The email also mentions the NSO-Group’s Pegasus spyware, saying tools like those are being used to target people on an ongoing basis globally.
“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 -xxx-. This attack is likely targeting you specifically because of who you are or what you do. Although it’s never possible to achieve absolute certainty when detecting such attacks, Apple has high confidence in this warning — please take it seriously,” the threat notification by Apple was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.
The company advised users to be cautious with all links they receive, and not to open any links or attachments from unexpected or unknown senders. The tech giant said that it was unable to provide more information about what caused it to send the threat notification, as that could help mercenary spyware attackers “adapt their behaviour to evade detection in the future”.
“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. These attacks cost millions of dollars and are individually deployed against a very small number of people, but the targeting is ongoing and global,” Apple said in its threat notification as reported by The Indian Express.
Apple started sending these threat notifications in 2021. Last year, at least 20 Indians with iPhones had received such alerts.