Apple Warns of 'Mercenary Spyware Attack' on Users in India, 91 Other Countries

FILE PHOTO: People walk near an Apple logo outside its store in Shanghai, China September 8, 2023. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: People walk near an Apple logo outside its store in Shanghai, China September 8, 2023. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo
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Apple Warns of 'Mercenary Spyware Attack' on Users in India, 91 Other Countries

FILE PHOTO: People walk near an Apple logo outside its store in Shanghai, China September 8, 2023. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: People walk near an Apple logo outside its store in Shanghai, China September 8, 2023. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo

Apple Inc has warned its users in India and ninety-one other countries that they were possible victims of a "mercenary spyware attack", according to a threat notification email that was sent to targeted users.
The company discovered that attackers tried to "remotely compromise the iPhone", Apple said in the notification email seen by Reuters.
Mercenary spyware attacks are rare and vastly more sophisticated than regular cybercriminal activity or malware, according to the notification email.
The iPhone-maker has sent threat notifications such as these multiple times a year since 2021, the notification email said, adding that it has notified users in more than 150 countries in total to date.
In October 20223, some Indian lawmakers shared screenshots on social media of a notification quoting the iPhone manufacturer as saying: "Apple believes you are being targeted by state-sponsored attackers who are trying to remotely compromise the iPhone associated with your Apple ID".



Seoul: North Korea Suspected of Preparing to Send More Troops to Russia

A Ukrainian self-propelled howitzer Dita of Azov brigade fires towards Russian positions at frontline in Donetsk region, Ukraine, Thursday Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
A Ukrainian self-propelled howitzer Dita of Azov brigade fires towards Russian positions at frontline in Donetsk region, Ukraine, Thursday Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
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Seoul: North Korea Suspected of Preparing to Send More Troops to Russia

A Ukrainian self-propelled howitzer Dita of Azov brigade fires towards Russian positions at frontline in Donetsk region, Ukraine, Thursday Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
A Ukrainian self-propelled howitzer Dita of Azov brigade fires towards Russian positions at frontline in Donetsk region, Ukraine, Thursday Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

South Korea's military said on Friday that it suspects North Korea is preparing to send more troops to Russia to fight Ukrainian forces, even after suffering losses and seeing some of its soldiers captured.
"As four months have passed for the dispatch of troops for the Russia-Ukraine war, and multiple casualties and captives have occurred, (North Korea) is suspected to be accelerating follow-up measures and preparation for an additional dispatch of troops," the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a statement.
The JCS analysis did not specify what other follow-up measures Pyongyang might take, Reuters reported.
North Korea is also preparing to launch a spy satellite and an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), though there were no signs of immediate action, the JCS said.
This month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said two North Korean soldiers had been captured in Russia's Kursk region, marking the first time Ukraine had taken North Korean soldiers alive since their entry into the war last autumn.
Pyongyang has deployed about 11,000 soldiers to support Moscow's forces in Russia's western Kursk region, according to Ukrainian and Western assessments, which Ukraine seized in a surprise attack last year.
More than 3,000 have been killed or wounded, according to Kyiv.
Although Moscow and Pyongyang initially dismissed reports about the North's troop deployment, Russian President Vladimir Putin in October did not deny that North Korean soldiers were in Russia and a North Korean official said any such deployment would be lawful.
The escalating cooperation comes after Putin's visit to Pyongyang in June 2024, where the leaders signed a "Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty", which includes a mutual defense pact.