If you get an alarming text from Apple about “mercenary spyware,” don’t delete it and ignore what you read. This text isn’t spam. It’s a real warning Apple users are getting that they should act upon quickly.
The official notification will read: “Apple detected a mercenary spyware attack targeted at your iPhone. There are actions you can take now to protect your data and device.” The sender will be named “Apple Threat Notifications” when you get the alert by text, and the email address associated with your Apple account will also receive the warning from the following address: threat-notifications@email.apple.com.
Apple confirmed to HuffPost that threat notifications were sent on Aug. 13 to targeted users in 110 countries, and to date, users have been notified in over 150 countries in total. It is unclear how many users in the U.S. were affected.
Unlike general scams that target broad groups, a mercenary spyware attack is likely targeting someone like a journalist, activist or politician specifically because of their identity or profession.
“Apple threat notifications are high-confidence alerts that a user has been individually targeted by a mercenary spyware attack,” Apple stated on its support page. “We are unable to provide information about what causes us to issue threat notifications, as that may help mercenary spyware attackers adapt their behavior to evade detection in the future.”
