Apple Warns More Users About Mercenary Spyware Attacks

[russell_314]

The scary thing is … many of those already in the CECOT facility in El Salvador thought the exact same.

Further, Apple says it’s sent notices to people in over 150 countries, which is 75% of the countries in the world. It’s a sure bet that includes repressive regimes where regular, unremarkable people are routinely “disappeared” or otherwise targeted for no good reason.

To make matters worse, even if you’re an American in America with impeccable MAGA credentials, it’s guaranteed that there are multiple foreign governments who would be more than happy to gain leverage over you.

And, to tie it all together, multiple potential adversaries have the computing power readily available to do massive automated indiscriminate sweeps of huge swaths of populations to look for even the most inconsequential of stuff. Especially considering how much data DOGE is on record as having exfiltrated using methods known to not comply with extant data security and integrity protocols.

In short, nobody is safe. For better or worse, somebody gives a sh*t about everybody.

b&

I don’t think anyone hacked their phones though. You don’t have to be important to be arrested for breaking the law.

 

[russell_314]

Or even a contact of someone who is a thorn in some regime's side. They don't just target the target, they target the target's extended circle.

I know important people, but none of these people are thorns in the sides of any government. They are with and not against the system so that helps

I'd poop myself if I got that warning. It could mean Mossad or some other spy agency is after you.

Yeah, I would be moderately uncomfortable. I would likely wipe my device and start over with a new account.

 

[JosephAW]

Make sure you update your iPhone 6, 6S, 7, 8, X to the latest iOS 18 to get the security patches otherwise you might be vulnerable. 📱

 

[Howard2k]

if I owned my own hardware and wrote my own software for a device that accesses and can be accessed from the internet, why is it rocket science to identify / block threats such as pegasus? unless DOD has their hands in apple/google software (or hardware)

Pegasus is one of many. But Pegasus is just a proxy to leverage whatever attack vectors can be found. “Blocking Pegasus” means protecting yourself against the flaws the Pegasus leverages.

 

[TechnoMonk]

Good thing nobody gives a sh*t about me (including my wife and kids).

Big brother is watching your every move. You don’t need to do anything other than being in the wrong place with wrong person of interest.

 

[rumorguy]

I did not vote for Trump, should I be concerned? I did have my VPN set to show that I am in Canada, but I changed that. Now I am back in the US of A.

 

[Love-hate 🍏 relationship]

are those ordered by the government? did i get that right ? is it legal ?

 

[azhava]

I'd poop myself if I got that warning. It could mean Mossad or some other spy agency is after you.

If you're getting a message like that, having your phone compromised is probably the least of your worries.

 

[svish]

Good to see Apple taking a very important role in ensuring user privacy and informing appropriate users.