Recent reports indicate that the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has sent a notice to Apple after the company circulated fresh threat notifications warning users in India and around the world about a new mercenary spyware attack. Apple and Google issued these alerts on December 2 and 3 to individuals they believed could be potential targets of sophisticated hacking attempts.
After Apple sent the notifications, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) released a public advisory urging users to update their Apple devices immediately. CERT-In stated that Apple had detected attempts to remotely compromise devices associated with certain Apple IDs. The agency advised users to install the latest iOS version, update their messaging and cloud applications, enable Lockdown Mode, and stay alert to any unusual prompts on their screens. Users who received Apple’s warning were also asked to contact submitmobile@cert-in.org.in if they wanted their devices checked or needed technical support.
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Sources say the IT ministry (MeitY) has asked Apple to explain more about its warning messages in terms of what kind of threats they detected, how they detected them, and how many users might be affected.
Cybersecurity experts say these warnings show that mercenary spyware attacks are becoming a serious problem and that other bad actors could use the same weaknesses to carry out attacks.
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Meghna Bal from the Esya Centre said that the growing use of commercial spyware is a danger for security in India and around the world. She explained that attackers can exploit the same security gaps that these spyware tools use and that such attacks will likely become more frequent and more advanced.
She also said that governments should try to work together to stop the spread of such tools, even though that cooperation may be hard. She stressed that stronger protection and better coordination between governments and the tech industry are necessary.
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This is not the first time Apple’s threat alerts have led to official action in India. In 2023, MeitY sought Apple for clarification after several opposition leaders and journalists reported receiving similar warnings. Later, Apple met with MeitY and CERT-In and explained that its alerts were based on internal security signals and not linked to any particular government.