An unprecedented number of Apple customers have reported receiving threat alerts recently warning them of suspected spyware attacks targeting their devices, according to experts who investigate these types of incidents.
Many people reported receiving Apple’s spyware warning over the weekend, after Apple sent out a new wave of alerts on Friday to alert customers in 110 countries that they were being targeted by powerful spyware.
Sometimes, the tech giant sends these types of alerts to customers it believes have been targeted or compromised with government-sponsored malware, which the company refers to as “mercenary spyware.” In recent years, Apple said it has notified people in more than 150 countries.
The latest suit appears to be the largest yet, according to a digital rights group that Apple advises spyware victims to seek help from.
Mohammed Al-Maskati, director of the Access Now investigative team that reviews and investigates reports to the helpline, told TechCrunch that since Friday, they have received a large number of people reaching out for help. This includes people who have received threat alerts in the past.
Al-Maskati said that figure is about 30% to 40% more than the nonprofit’s investigators would normally receive after Apple sends a new notification.
Cyber security firm iVerify also confirmed to TechCrunch that it is seeing an influx of threat alerts from Apple.
An unusually large number of people also publicly reported receiving these alerts over the weekend as well, according to several social media posts.
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One of them is a soldier of the armed forces of Ukraine who said that he is fighting against Russia. The soldier, who asked to remain anonymous to protect himself, said he initially thought it was a scam, until he verified it with Apple.
“I was a little surprised to be honest, I didn’t think I was important enough for them to target me like this. I was flattered,” the soldier told TechCrunch.
This soldier also said that he knows other people in the Ukrainian army who received the same notification. “They were a little worried,” he said.
Ukraine’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-UA) did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment, asking if it knew of other Ukrainians, particularly the military, receiving these alerts.
John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at The Citizen Lab, a digital rights group that has investigated government spyware attacks for more than 15 years, told TechCrunch that the report shows that spyware attacks may be more widespread than the public realizes.
“The scale and geographic diversity of public messages about receiving alerts is quite unprecedented,” Scott-Railton said. “For every public notice like this, you can imagine there’s a huge iceberg of notices that people never learn about. This is a clear indication that something bigger is happening.”
Both Al-Maskati and Scott-Railton said the volume of people receiving notifications could also be a way to alert new Apple users.
Starting this year, Apple Now notice Users on their iPhone lock screen, in their app settings, through the email associated with their Apple account, and when users log into their Apple account on the web.
“Apple’s new notification method has helped raise awareness of the importance of the problem, making it difficult for users to ignore it,” Al-Maskati said.
Apple did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.
If you receive one of these notifications, take it seriously. If you are not a journalist, activist, or human rights defender, there are other organizations that can help you investigate.
If you haven’t already, as Apple and experts recommend, turn on Lockdown mode, a special security feature designed to make it harder to hack iPhones, iPads and Mac computers. Apple has said that it is not aware that anyone who turns on Lockdown Mode will be hacked.
Updated with more information from iVerify.
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