Apple Warns iPhone Users in 92 Countries, Including India, of ‘Mercenary Spyware Attacks’

New Delhi: Apple on Thursday issue another alert in 92 countries warning its iPhone users of “mercenary spyware attacks”. Though it did not disclose the attackers’ identities, the malware could be the type associated with Israeli NSO Group’s controversial Pegasus, which was earlier found to have infected several users in India.

“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-,” it wrote in the warning to affected customers, according to TechCrunch.

The Apple text added: “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,” said TechCrunch, which reviewed the copy.

According to Apple’s support page, such notifications several times in a year to its iPhone users across the globe.

However, the warning by Apple has raised an alarm in India, more so as it comes once again after a gap of six months and at a time when the country is in the midst of general elections.

In October 2023, Apple had sent a warning on “State-sponsored attackers trying to remotely compromise” iPhones belonging to a number of journalists and Opposition politicians in India, with many of them tweeting the screenshots of the alerts.

Among those who got the alert were Mahua Moitra of Trinamool Congress, Priyanka Chaturvedi of Shiv Sena (UBT), Shashi Tharoor of Congress, Sitaram Yechury of CPI(M), Akhilesh Yadav of Samajwadi Party and senior journalists Siddharth Varadarajan and Sriram Karri among others.

 "Apple believes you are being targeted by state-sponsored attackers who are trying to remotely compromise the iPhone associated with your Apple ID. These attackers are likely targeting you individually because of who you are or what you do. If your device is compromised by a state-sponsored attacker, they may be able to remotely access your sensitive data, communications, or even the camera and microphone. While it's possible this is a false alarm, please take this warning seriously," the October 2023 alert had stated.

In December 2023, Amnesty International had reported that it had found Pegasus spyware on the phones of some Indian journalists.

“Our latest findings show that increasingly, journalists in India face the threat of unlawful surveillance simply for doing their jobs, alongside other tools of repression including imprisonment under draconian laws, smear campaigns, harassment, and intimidation,” said Donncha Ó Cearbhaill, Head of Amnesty International’s Security Lab, in the blog post in December.

The Narendra Modi government is yet to come out with a full disclosure, as it has neither denied nor confirmed using the Pegasus tool (which is a government-to- government purchase) in the Supreme Court.