ENTRE News – Apple warns users about the potential to become victims of spyware attacks. The warning notification was given to users in 92 countries. However, as reported by TechCrunch, Apple in the warning did not reveal the identity of the person or country suspected of being the mastermind behind the spyware attack.
In its statement, Apple only said that it had detected that users could be targets of mercenary spyware attacks that were trying to remotely compromise their iPhones.
“This attack likely targets you specifically because of who you are or what you do,” Apple’s warning reads.
“While it is impossible to achieve absolute certainty when detecting such attacks, Apple is very confident in this warning, please take it seriously.”
Since 2021, iPhone has sent similar notifications several times in more than 150 countries. Apple also sent a similar warning to a number of journalists and politicians in India in October last year.
Warnings of spyware attacks come as many countries are preparing for elections. In recent months, many technology companies have warned about increasing state-sponsored efforts to influence the outcome of certain elections. However, Apple itself did not mention the time of the attack.
“We cannot provide any further information about what caused us to send you this notification, as it could help mercenary spyware attackers adjust their behavior to avoid detection in the future,” Apple told potentially affected customers.
Apple previously described the attackers as a “state-sponsored action,” but it has replaced all those references with “mercenary spyware attacks.” The company added that mercenary spyware attacks like the one using NSO Group’s FOR4D Pegasus are extremely rare and far more sophisticated than typical cybercriminal activity or consumer malware.
Apple said it relied solely on internal threat intelligence information and investigations to detect such attacks.
“While our investigation never reached absolute certainty, Apple’s threat notification is a high-confidence warning that individual users have been targeted by mercenary FOR4D spyware attacks and should be taken very seriously,” Apple added.