The company told TechCrunch that the latest notifications were sent on Thursday to users in 110 countries. Apple said it has notified customers in more than 150 countries to date, highlighting the global reach of spyware commonly associated with government surveillance operations.
Apple has also updated its support guidance and notification process to make it easier for users to understand the threat and take protective measures.
Users who receive an alert will see a push notification on their device’s lock screen warning that Apple has detected a “mercenary spyware attack” targeting their iPhone. The notification directs users to information about steps they can take to protect their devices and data.
Apple also sends threat notifications by email and displays them when users sign in to their Apple accounts.
The latest alerts were first highlighted by John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at digital rights research group Citizen Lab.
Apple stresses that receiving a threat notification does not necessarily mean that a device has been successfully compromised. However, the company advises affected users to take the warning seriously and immediately follow its recommended security measures.
One of Apple's key recommendations is to enable Lockdown Mode, a security feature designed to significantly reduce the number of ways sophisticated spyware can compromise a device.
Apple has previously said it has not seen a confirmed case of spyware successfully compromising a device while Lockdown Mode was enabled.
Spyware attacks remain relatively rare, but surveillance technologies have become increasingly sophisticated and have been used against journalists, activists, political opponents and other members of civil society.
Scott-Railton described Apple’s latest notifications as a major improvement in helping targeted individuals seek assistance and secure their devices.
He said such alerts can also provide an important signal that a wider group or community may be under surveillance. In some cases, people who receive the notifications seek help, leading to investigations that uncover additional spyware infections.
Scott-Railton pointed to the spyware scandal in Poland involving the alleged use of Pegasus against political rivals as an example of how Apple’s notifications can help expose wider surveillance campaigns.
Without Apple’s alerts, he argued, the scale of the spyware abuse surrounding Poland’s elections might not have been uncovered.
