Apple alerted some users in Iran of iPhone spyware attacks ahead of Israel conflict, claim researchers

Apple reportedly warned some users in Iran that their iPhones are at a risk of being targeted by government spyware. According to a TechCrunch report,

Miaan Group

, a digital rights organization that focuses on Iran and Iranian cybersecurity researcher Hamid Kashfi, has published a report on the state of cybersecurity of civil society in Iran. The report mentioned three confirmed cases of government spyware attacks against Iranians, two in Iran and one in Europe, that were alerted in April of this year – months ahead of conflict with Israel. The researchers claim to have spoken to several Iranians who received the notifications over the past year.“Two people in Iran come from a family with a long history of political activism against the Islamic Republic. Many members of their family have been executed, and they have no history of traveling abroad,” said Amir Rashidi, Miaan Group’s director of digital rights and security, in an interview with TechCrunch. “I believe there have been three waves of attacks, and we have only seen the tip of the iceberg.”Rashidi told the publication that Iran is likely the government behind the attacks, adding more investigations may be required to reach a conclusive determination. “I see no reason for members of civil society to be targeted by anyone other than Iran,” he said.Kashfi, the Sweden-based researcher on the other hand, said he assisted two of the victims with initial forensic checks. Though he could not identify which spyware tool was used.

”Pretty much all victims spooked out and ghosted us as soon as we explained the seriousness of the case to them. I presume partly because of their place of work and sensitivity of the matters related to that,” said Kashfi, adding that one of the victims received notifications in 2024.

Apple alerted spyware targeting in over 150 countries

Apple, in recent years, has sent out similar alerts to users believed to be targeted with government spyware. This type of software is also known as “mercenary” or “commercial” spyware. These notifications have helped researchers document spyware abuse in countries including India, El Salvador, and Thailand.According to Apple’s support page on “threat notifications,” last updated in April, the company has alerted users in more than 150 countries since 2021. Apple does not name the countries or specify how many people have received the alerts.