Apple has long touted the security of its iOS platform. Security features like passcodes, PIN, Touch ID, and Face ID basically act as encryption and protects the contents of your phone until it is unlocked. Apple has also famously refused to build a backdoor for law enforcement. However, security threats persist, and recently over in France, Apple has sent out notifications to users warning them about a spyware campaign .
Apple warns of spyware campaign
According to France’s Information Security Agency (machine translation), “Since 2021, Apple has been sending notification campaigns to individuals targeted by spyware attacks. These software programs, such as Pegasus, Predator, Graphite or Triangulation, are particularly sophisticated and difficult to detect.”
The agency also suggests that these attacks are targeting individuals because of their jobs or roles in society. “These complex attacks target individuals because of their status or function: journalists, lawyers, activists, politicians, senior officials, members of management committees in strategic sectors, etc.”
They also warn that if you have received a notification, it means at least one of your devices linked to your iCloud account has been targeted and potentially compromised . They’re also warning users to avoid making changes to their devices. This includes resetting, deleting apps, updating, or restarting. This is to help preserve as much of the evidence as possible.
What’s alarming is that according to the agency, this is the four spyware campaign Apple has notified users about in 2025 alone. The first report was on March 5, followed by another on April 29, and another on June 5. The latest report was made on September 3.
How do you protect yourself?
If you’re concerned about being potentially targeted by spyware campaigns, the agency lists several ways that you can protect yourself. For starters, it recommends you keep your device updated to the latest update as soon as possible. This is because updates can sometimes contain security fixes. This can help close holes that hackers exploit to hack into devices.
They also suggest enabling automatic updates, and to keep your personal and professional devices separate. Of course, there are some other more “common sense” methods you can employ. This includes not clicking on suspicious links from messages or emails from people you don’t know. Avoid downloading email attachments from unknown senders, and do not download apps outside of the App Store.
Ensuring you use a strong and sophisticated password is also a good idea. Or an even better idea would be to use security tools like 2FA or passkeys where available.
