Washington: Months after several Opposition leaders claimed that they received messages warning of “state-sponsored” hackers trying to access their iPhones, the tech giant has sent out a “mercenary spyware” alert to its users in 92 countries, including India. The notification was sent out late last night.
An Apple statement on the notification also mentions Pegasus spyware, which raised a political storm in 2021 over allegations that Opposition leaders were among those snooped on.
Following Pegasus developer NSO group’s statement that its clients are only vetted governments and their agencies, the Opposition had asked the Centre to come clear on the issue. A Supreme Court panel did not find the spyware in the phones of the 29 complainants in the case.
The Apple statement says the notifications are designed to inform and assist users who may have been individually targeted by mercenary spyware attacks, “likely because of who they are or what they do”.
“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. Mercenary spyware attacks cost millions of dollars and often have a short shelf life, making them much harder to detect and prevent. The vast majority of users will never be targeted by such attacks,” it said.