(5MinNewsBreak.com) – In highly concerning news for iPhone users, Apple has notified individuals in at least 92 other countries that they have been targeted in “mercenary spyware attacks.”
An exceedingly sophisticated cyberattack has disrupted the digital lives of iPhone users across no fewer than 92 countries, Reuters reports, cited by The New York Post.
Apple, the overseeing entity, issued warnings via email to those targeted, stating that hackers intended to “remotely compromise the iPhone” and subsequently updated its advice regarding these instances of advanced technological breach.
Dubbed “mercenary attacks,” these operations do not target the general populace with the intent of stealing bank account numbers or personal data. In fact, the average person is seldom the focus of such invasions.
Rather, these assaults are directed at individuals of high stature—“likely because of who they are or what they do”—and the number of victims is minimal.
The usual targets are figures such as politicians, diplomats, journalists, and activists, Apple disclosed.
“The extreme cost, sophistication and worldwide nature of mercenary spyware attacks makes them some of the most advanced digital threats in existence today,” Apple said in its revised guidelines.
“Such attacks are vastly more complex than regular cybercriminal activity and consumer malware, as mercenary spyware attackers apply exceptional resources to target a very small number of specific individuals and their devices,” it added.
“Mercenary spyware attacks are exceptionally well funded and they evolve over time,” the company elaborated.
While the most recent advisory omits the phrase “state-sponsored”—a term that brought Apple under scrutiny last fall due to an incident involving the Indian government and its opposition leaders—the corporation still acknowledges that these assaults “have historically been associated with state actors.”
At times, a proxy may act on behalf of a nation.
Since 2021, Apple has alerted users in at least 150 countries that their devices might have fallen prey to these “exceptionally well-funded” campaigns, which have been progressively advancing and diversifying. Should an individual be compromised, a “Threat Notification” will manifest at the top of an Apple webpage when the user logs in with their Apple ID via appleid.apple.com.
Following this, Apple will dispatch both an email and an iMessage notification to the individual’s phone and registered email address.
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