iPhones Of Some Indian Users May Be Bugged By Pegasus-Type Spyware, Warns Apple

By OB Bureau On Apr 11, 2024

New Delhi: The iPhones of some users in India and 91 other countries could have been potentially attacked by “mercenary spyware,” including the Israeli NSO Group’s controversial Pegasus malware. In its fresh round of notifications, Apple has not attributed the recent wave of attacks to any stakeholder, The Indian Express reported.

It may be recalled that last October, it had sent a similar notification to Opposition leaders across parties — Congress’s Shashi Tharoor, AAP’s Raghav Chadha and TMC’s Mahua Moitra, warning of a “potential state-sponsored spyware attack” on their iPhones.

The threat notification emails were sent at around 12.30 am IST on Thursday (April 11) to impacted users in India. It is unclear how many people have received the threat notification from Apple. The email also mentions the NSO-Group’s Pegasus spyware, saying tools like those are being used to target people on an ongoing basis globally, the report added.

“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-. 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 notification email added.

The company advised users to be cautious with all links they receive, and not to open any links or attachments from unexpected or unknown senders, adding it was unable to provide more information about what caused it to send the threat notification, as that could help mercenary spyware attackers “adapt their behaviour to evade detection in the future,” the report added.

Apple has also updated its support page to include tips for users who had been possible targets of the mercenary spyware attack. “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,” the iPhone maker said.