Apple iPhone users in India and over 91 countries have got a new spyware attack notification from the company on April 11 at 12:30 AM IST which could be as dangerous as the NSO Group’s Pegasus. The company has sent out this alert previously as well, and does so when it detects major intrusion in iPhone and other devices.
The company says, “today’s notification is being sent to targeted users in 92 countries, and to date we have notified users in over 150 countries in total,” which includes iPhone users from India as well. “Apple sends an email and iMessage notification to the email addresses and phone numbers associated with the user’s Apple ID,” the company explains in its support page here. It was not immediately clear who and how many users received the notification in India.
“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 . This attack is likely targeting you specifically because of who you are or what you do,” the notification email reads that affected iPhone users have received.
Apple has refused to share the details from where these attacks originate, and even in this case, the mail alert reaching the iPhone users clearly states the following, “The extreme cost, sophistication, and worldwide nature makes mercenary spyware attacks some of the most advanced digital threats in existence today. As a result, Apple does not attribute the attacks or the notice you’re receiving to any specific attackers or geographical regions.”
The spyware warning also mentions that Pegasus-like spyware used to attack iPhones are rare and they are specifically targeted at an individual with clear reasons to infiltrate their device. “Mercenary spyware attacks, such as those using Pegasus from the NSO Group, are exceptionally rare and vastly more sophisticated than regular cybercriminal activity or consumer malware.”
The emailer quickly cites some important tips to the affected iPhone users in the country, asking them to enable lockdown mode on their iPhones right away, update to the latest iOS 17.4.1 version, update all the other Apple devices they use, and avoid entertaining messages and links from strangers to avoid further damage or data loss.
According to government sources, the recent alert was prompted after a government body CERT-In wrote to Apple on April 10.
CERT-In asked Apple on April 10 to clarify whether any new vulnerabilities have been reported to or found by Apple including their related patches developed to mitigate the vulnerabilities.
On the same day, CERT-In also requested Apple to inform such new vulnerabilities and patch information to Apple users to enable the prevention of any malicious activity
CERT-In has been very active in detecting cyber attacks on Indian users and systems while being in constant touch with Apple on reported vulnerabilities in its products.
Comments
0 comment