Apple sends notifications to users in 92 countries about ‘mercenary spyware’

Apple sends notifications to users in 92 countries about ‘mercenary spyware’
New Delhi:  Tech giant Apple on Thursday sent threat notifications to select users in 92 countries, including some in India, who may have been targeted using ‘mercenary spyware’ like Pegasus from the NSO Group.

Mercenary spyware attacks are exceptionally well-funded and they evolve over time. According to an Apple support document, it relies solely on internal threat-Intelligence information and investigations to detect such attacks.

The company, however, did not officially comment on threat notifications being sent to targeted users. Since 2021, the company has sent threat notifications multiple times a year as it detected these attacks, and to date, “we have notified users in over 150 countries in total,” according to the company’s support document.

The extreme cost, sophistication, and worldwide nature of mercenary spyware attacks makes them some of the most advanced digital threats in existence today. Recently, the Indian government warned Apple users in India about multiple vulnerabilities in their devices.

CERT-In, under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, said that multiple vulnerabilities have been reported in Apple Products which “could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code, bypass security restrictions, disclose sensitive information, gain elevated privileges or cause denial of service conditions on the target system.” The national cyber-security agency had asked Apple users to upgrade their iOS software with the latest company updates.