Apple Warns iPhone Users in 99 Countries of Mercenary Spyware

Apple has sent a fresh round of threat notifications to iPhone users in 99 countries, including France and Germany. According to the company, the recipients were targeted by so-called mercenary spyware, an expensive surveillance tool typically sold to governments. The alerts went out on 29 October.

Political fallout in Germany

In Germany, the alert quickly became a political matter. The Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) warned members of the federal parliament and the government that their iPhones may have been targeted. German Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger called it "pure speculation" for now and said the details must be established, but added that the matter worries the government greatly.

As a precaution, the BSI advises recipients to assume their device is compromised, to get rid of it and to avoid sensitive communication on it. This type of spyware can read messages, including those in encrypted messaging apps, and access calls, contacts, calendars and location. It can even switch on the microphone and camera.

France's CERT-FR also confirmed it knew of the notifications and asked recipients to contact it as soon as possible. By its count, this is the third wave of alerts in 2026, after those of 26 February and 13 August.

What the notification means

Apple has not said how many people were targeted. It says it has now notified users in more than 150 countries since the system launched in 2021, following the Pegasus scandal. A notification does not necessarily mean an iPhone was breached. CERT-FR explains that at least one device linked to the iCloud account was targeted and may potentially be compromised. Months can pass between an intrusion attempt and the alert.

Apple stresses the "extreme cost, sophistication and global reach" of such attacks and says it cannot currently attribute them to a specific entity. Typical targets are journalists, lawyers, activists, politicians, senior officials and business executives rather than ordinary users.

Recipients should enable Lockdown Mode, which limits features such as iMessage and FaceTime that attackers can use as entry points. Installing iOS updates promptly remains the best defence, since they close the flaws spyware relies on.