Apple Sends Warning to Several High Profile Users in India, Warning About Cyber Attack

Apple has warned about a cyber attack on iPhone users in 92 other countries, including India. Apple claimed that mercenary spyware attacks are more complex compared to regular cybercriminal activity and consumer malware, as mercenary spyware attackers target a very small number of specific individuals and their devices to know who they are or what they do.

''The Mercenary spyware attacks cost millions of dollars and often have a short shelf life, making them much harder to detect and prevent. The vast majority of users will never be targeted by such attacks.'' Apple said in its guidelines. They target well-known people, including politicians, journalists and diplomats.

Apple states that if it detects activity consistent with a mercenary spyware attack, it will notify the targeted users by sending a threat notification displayed at the top of the page after the user signs into appleid.apple.com. Alternatively, Apple will send an email and iMessage notification to the email addresses and phone numbers associated with the user's Apple ID.

These notifications by Apple provide additional steps to protect devices by enabling Lockdown Mode. Notably, Apple threat notifications will never ask users to click any links, open files, install apps or profiles, or provide their Apple ID password or verification code by email or on the phone.

To know whether the Apple threat notification is genuine or not, users can sign in to appleid.apple.com to see if it is visible at the top of the page after they sign in.

How to Protect Yourself From Mercenary Spyware Attacks

You can protect yourself from this kind of mercenary spyware attack by -

• Updating to the latest software, as it brings the latest security fixes.
• Use two-factor authentication and a strong password for Apple ID.
• Users are advised to install apps from the App Store.
• Don't click on links sent from unknown senders.

As per Apple guidelines, if users have not received an Apple threat notification but believe they may be targeted by mercenary spyware attacks, they can enable Lockdown Mode on their iPhones for additional protection.