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Apple sent threat notifications to iPhone users in 92 countries on Wednesday, warning them that may have been targeted by mercenary spyware attacks.<\/p>\n
The company sent the alerts to individuals in 92 nations at 12pm Pacific Time on Wednesday. It did not disclose the attackers\u2019 identities or the countries where users received notifications.<\/p>\n
\u201cApple 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-,\u201d the company wrote in the warning to affected customers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis attack is likely targeting you specifically because of who you are or what you do. Although it\u2019s never possible to achieve absolute certainty when detecting such attacks, Apple has high confidence in this warning \u2014 please take it seriously,\u201d added the warning, a copy of which TechCrunch reviewed.<\/p>\n
To be sure, the iPhone-maker sends these notifications multiple times a year<\/a> and has notified users in over 150 countries since 2021, it wrote<\/a> in an updated support page.<\/p>\n Apple also sent an identical warning to some journalists and politicians in India in October last year. Later, nonprofit advocacy group Amnesty International reported<\/a> that it had found NSO Group\u2019s invasive spyware Pegasus on the iPhones of prominent journalists in India. (Users in India are among those who have received the new threat notifications, according to people familiar with the matter.)<\/p>\n Apple\u2019s warnings arrive at a time when many nations are preparing for local elections. Many tech firms in recent months have cautioned about rising state-sponsored efforts to sway certain electoral outcomes. Apple\u2019s alerts, however, did not remark on their timing. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe are unable to provide more information about what caused us to send you this notification, as that may help mercenary spyware attackers adapt their behavior to evade detection in the future,\u201d the company told impacted customers.<\/span><\/p>\n