Apple iPhone Pegasus Spyware like Attack Alert: iPhone manufacturer Apple has warned its users about advanced spyware attacks like Pegasus, saying that a limited number of people are being targeted by them. People who have come under spyware attacks include journalists, activists, politicians and diplomats.
However, Apple said in a statement issued regarding these attacks that due to the high cost, only a small number of spyware are deployed, but attacks by mercenary spyware are continuing and are being carried out on a global scale.
In its threat notification issued on April 10, Apple indicated, based on previous research and reports, that such attacks have historically been linked to government-linked parties. This notification has come at a time when elections are going to be held in about 60 countries including India this year.
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The threat alerts are designed to inform and assist users who may have been personally targeted by mercenary spyware attacks, the giant phone maker said. Maybe it’s because of who they are or what they do.
Such attacks are much more complex than regular cybercriminal activities and consumer malware because hired spyware attackers use extraordinary resources to target a small number of specific individuals and their phones.
Apple said that the cost of hired spyware attacks is millions of dollars. Apart from this, due to short duration of attacks, it becomes very difficult to detect and stop them. Apart from this, such attacks are never carried out on most users.
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The company said, information and research from civil society organizations, technology firms and journalists shows that these attacks have historically been associated with government actors, given the high cost and complexity involved. These also include private companies developing hired spyware on behalf of the government, among which is NSO Group’s spyware Pegasus.
Pegasus spyware took control of the user’s mobile phone by just giving him a missed call on WhatsApp. Apple said the extreme cost and worldwide nature of spyware attacks make them among the most advanced digital threats today.
In such a situation, Apple has suggested users to activate lockdown mode to avoid spyware attacks. Apple relies entirely on internal threat-intelligence and investigation to detect such attacks, the company said. Although our investigation can never be completely definitive, these threat alerts are highly reliable alerts. This should be taken very seriously.
A survey last year revealed that approximately 49 percent of organizations worldwide are unable to detect attacks or security breaches on employees’ devices. According to a report by cybersecurity firm Check Point, the weekly average of organizations affected by mobile malware in India in the last six months was 4.3 percent, while the average in the Asia-Pacific region was 2.6 percent.