Apple to warn users about ‘mercenary spyware’ attacks in India and other countries

Apple has also made it clear that “the vast majority of users will never be targeted by such attacks" but a few users may be impacted

Apple could send out warning notifications to iPhone users in India if they may have been individually targeted by mercenary spyware attacks, likely because of who they are or what they do.  According to a report by The Economic Times, Apple’s notification warning to users would specify if a user is “being targeted by a mercenary spyware attack that is trying to remotely compromise the iPhone”

The company has also updated one of its support pages detailing what mercenary attacks are. Apple has also made it clear that “the vast majority of users will never be targeted by such attacks.” According to Apple, “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.” 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 by journalists, activists, politicians, and diplomats across the world. Apple says that 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. Several politicians said that they had received notifications. Apple had made it clear then that it had sent notification messages to users in over 150 countries. “We are unable to provide information about what causes us to issue threat notifications, as that may help mercenary spyware attackers adapt their behavior to evade detection in the future,” says Apple on the support page.

Apple says 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 the support page.