Apple warns users of 'mercenary spyware'

Highly targeted message sent to users in 92 countries

Apple has warned users in India, and 91 other countries that they may be victims of a “mercenary spyware attack."

The mail states that such attacks are rare and considerably more sophisticated than regular cybercriminal activity. Apple did not disclose the countries other than India.

The aim of the attack is to "remotely compromise the iPhone," and the users targeted are likely to be politicians, diplomats, activists and journalists.

An extract from the email which has been seen by Tech Crunch says:

"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.

"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."

The warnings from Apple are not unusual. The company has sent multiple warnings since 2021 to users in 150 countries. It doesn't attribute the attacks to a specific country or even region but says that these attacks are of the most sophisticated nature.

Apple said it relies solely on "internal threat-intelligence information and investigations to detect such attacks."

The attacks come as almost half of the global population goes to the polls, with 64 countries and the EU either having already voted or due to do so in 2024.