Apple ‘Mercenary Attack’ on iPhones Explained – Video

Speaker 1: If someone gets a warning on their iPhone that their security is compromised because of a targeted mercenary attack. Yet this isn’t your typical cybersecurity hack. This isn’t, oh no, I opened a bad attachment in an email. No, this is a whole other security threat. We’re talking government level spine stuff. Alright? Now, it’s not going to affect most people, but it’s still good to know how it works. Hi, I am Bridget Carey. I’m a longtime tech reporter. I cover Apple and there’s been a lot of [00:00:30] questions when the story came out about how Apple’s sending warnings to folks who are victims of spyware attacks. This is not new stuff. Apple has talked about these warnings since 2021. Someone with a whole lot of money paid some of the best hackers in the world to send very high-end spyware to certain individuals. If you want to learn more about what I’m talking about, look up something called Pegasus.

Speaker 1: It’s kind of creepy. Now, with an attack like [00:01:00] this, you don’t have to click anything at all. The person can just send you a message and bloop, that’s it. Phones compromise. They’re spying on everything you do. It just goes to show you the links Apple has to take now to protect people who might be the targets of spying, like a journalist or an activist. It’s why Apple created something called lockdown mode for people who might be a target because of who they are and what they do. If this happens to your phone, apple says you’re going to need professional cybersecurity help, because that’s the world we live in now, folks, [00:01:30] now you get it.