Global mercenary spyware attacks targeting iPhone users

TechCrunch reports that Apple has warned of mercenary spyware attacks targeting iPhone users in India and 91 other countries.

Mercenary spyware attacks, which were previously referred to as "state-sponsored" intrusions, have been detected through internal threat intelligence and investigations, according to Apple, which noted the significantly more sophisticated nature of such incidents over traditional malware attacks.

"Although our investigations can never achieve absolute certainty, Apple threat notifications are high-confidence alerts that a user has been individually targeted by a mercenary spyware attack and should be taken very seriously," said Apple, which noted that it has not provided more details regarding the intrusions so as not to help threat actors.

Such an advisory, which comes amid the growing prevalence of influence operations targeted at elections across several nations, follows the company's spyware warning to Indian journalists and politicians in October later confirmed by Amnesty International.