Apple to soon warn users in India, 91 other nations of 'mercenary spyware' attack

Apple is likely to announce to its users in India and 91 other countries that they were possible victims of a "mercenary spyware" attack attempt in which someone tried to gain unlawful access to their devices. The threat notification mail sent by Apple stated that 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 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 this warning — please take it seriously."

Apple updated its support page for possible tips for users who had been possible targets of the mercenary spyware attack. 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 or what they do."

This is the second threat notification sent to Apple users across the globe since last year. In October 2023, Apple had 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 or what they do".

Apple had said, "Unlike traditional cybercriminals, state-sponsored attackers apply exceptional resources to target a very small number of specific individuals and their devices, which makes these attacks much harder to detect and prevent."