They are trying to remotely compromise iPhones
BBN Bureau
New Delhi: The US IT software and hardware major Apple has cautioned its users in 91 countries across the world including India that they may be subjected to a “mercenary spyware’’ attack by someone who is trying to get illegal access to their devices.
According to The Indian Express (IE), the threat notification mail sent by Apple said: “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.’’
The IE report further says that Apple detected that the user was “being targeted by a mercenary spyware attack that is trying to remotely compromise the iPhone’’ associated with a particular Apple ID.
The threat notification further read: “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 warning – please take it seriously.’’
On Wednesday, Apple updated its support page to include tips for users who had been possible targets of mercenary spyware attacks. The updated support page stated: Apple threat notifications are designed to inform and assist users who may have been individually targeted by mercenary spyware attacks, likely because of who they are and what they do.’’
Since last year, this is the second threat notification sent to Apple users across the globe. In October 2023, Apple sent a similar notification to users in several countries, including India, warning them of a “state-sponsored’’ attack on their devices. In the threat notifications, Apple had said that users facing such attacks are “individually targeted because of who they are of what they do.’’
Apple said “Unlike traditional cybercriminals, state-sponsored attackers apply exceptional resources to target a very small number of specific individual and their devices, which makes these attacks much harder to detect and prevent.
