Apple Warns Users In India And 91 Other Countries About "Spyware Mercenary" Attack

JAKARTA - Apple Inc has warned users in India and 91 other countries that it is likely to fall victim to a "pyware firecracker" attack, removing the word "supported by the state" used in previous warnings to refer to the malware attack.

Apple found that the attackers were trying to "take over the iPhone remotely," it said in a notification email sent to users.

The US Cupertino company has previously said on its website that its threat notifications are designed to inform and assist users who may be targeted by "state-backed attackers."

However, Apple's latest update posted on the website on Wednesday, April 10 stated that the threat notification was designed to help users "which may individually be the target of a mercy spyware attack."

It was also noted that such attacks have historically been linked to state actors, including private companies developing firecracker spyware on their behalf, such as the Pegasus spyware of Israeli company NSO Group.

The removal of the term "state-backed" from Apple's threat notification description comes after the company repeatedly came under pressure from the Indian government not to link the breach to the country's perpetrators, according to a source with direct knowledge.

Indian opposition politicians have accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of trying to hack their phones after Apple's message in October warning of an attack "supported by the state."

Apple had extensive talks with Indian officials before releasing a series of recent notifications, the source added. It is not yet clear whether other governments have raised similar concerns.

Mercenary spyware attacks are rare and far more sophisticated than ordinary online criminal activity or malware, according to the notification email.

Apple has sent threat notifications like this several times a year since 2021, the notification email said. Apple added that to date it has notified users in more than 150 countries.