Apple warns: India, 91 more nations 'mercenary spyware' attack

Apple has warned users in several countries that they might have been the target of a mercenary spyware attack. The alert was issued to iPhone owners in 92 countries and the company has not attributed these attacks to specific groups and has not revealed a list of countries where users were alerted. Meanwhile, the iPhone maker has also updated its support document with details on how these threat notifications work, along with information for users who might have been targeted by mercenary spyware attacks.

The company has warned users in 92 countries that their iPhone might have been targeted with mercenary spyware. “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-,” the company says in the email sent out to users on April 10 at 12pm PT (12:30am IST on Thursday) viewed by Gadgets 360.

The email informs users asks users to take the warning seriously, adding that that Apple has "high confidence" in the warning — even though it is never possible to achieve absolute certainty when detecting such attacks. Apple's email also states that it has notified users in 150 countries to date, and the company does not attribute these targeted spyware attacks — including those using software like Pegasus developed by NSO Group — to specific attackers or geographic regions.