Apple warned Iranians against iPhone spyware attacks, researchers say

In recent months, Apple has notified more than dozens of Iranians that their iPhones have been targeted Government spywareAccording to security researchers.

Mian Group, an Iran-focused digital rights group, and Hamid Kassi, an Iranian cybersecurity researcher who lives in Sweden, said they spoke to several Iranians who received notifications last year.

Bloomberg I wrote it first About these spyware notifications.

Miaan Group Report has been published On Tuesday, in the state of cybersecurity in Iranian civil society, researchers from the organization said they have identified three cases of government spyware attacks against Iran, one in Iran, which was warned in April this year.

“The two Iranians come from families with a long history of political activity against the Islamic Republic. Many of their families have been executed and have no history of travelling abroad.” “We believe there have been three waves of attacks, and have only seen the tip of the iceberg.”

Rashidi said Iran is probably the government behind the attacks, but that more investigation into these attacks would need to be made to reach a more decisive decision. “I don’t think there’s a reason why civil society members are targeted by people outside of Iran,” he said.

Kashfi, who founded security company Darkcell, said in an email that he helped two victims carry out preliminary forensic procedures, but was unable to see which spyware manufacturer was behind the attack. And he preferred that some of the victims he worked for would not continue his investigation.

“Almost all the victims were scared and scared us and haunted us. We explained to them the seriousness of the incident and partially speculate due to the location and sensitivity of their work in the issues associated with it,” Kashfi said.

It is unknown which spyware manufacturers are behind these attacks.

Apple has been dispatched for the past few years Some round of notification To those who believe the company is targeting government spyware. Pegasus from NSO Groupor Paragon graphite. This type of malware is also known as “mercian” or “commercial” spyware.

Notifications are useful for security researchers to document abuse with a focus on spyware. India, El Salvador, Thailand.

Above Apple Support Page Tech Giant, last updated in April, said it has notified users in “over 150 countries” since 2021 about what the company calls “threat notifications.” Apple does not disclose the name of the country or the total number of people who have notified them.

Since last year, Apple has been working to help victims. Those who receive these threat notifications are encouraged to reach out to the digital rights group AccessNowRuns a 24-hour helpline with staffed researchers who can investigate spyware attacks. AccessNow documents spyware abuse cases around the world.

Apple did not respond to requests for comment regarding the notification sent to Iranians.