Over the weekend, an unusually high number of Apple users reported receiving warnings that their devices were targeted by government spyware, following a new round of notifications Apple sent on Friday to users across 110 countries.
According to Access Now, an organization supporting spyware victims to which Apple directs users, the number of individuals seeking help jumped 30–40% compared to previous warning rounds. The company iVerify also confirmed seeing a sharp surge in reported alerts.
Among them was a Ukrainian soldier fighting against Russia, who initially assumed the notification was a scam until verifying it directly with Apple.
John Scott-Railton of Citizen Lab described the scale and geographic diversity of the reports as “unprecedented” and offered a sobering observation: for every public alert, there remains a massive “submerged iceberg” that the public never learns about.
Part of the reason for the increase in alerts may stem from Apple’s updated warning method: since earlier this year, the company has displayed notifications directly on the lock screen, inside Settings, via email, and upon logging in via the web, making them far harder to overlook than before.
A technical nuance worth noting is the distinction between more people receiving alerts and spyware actually becoming more prevalent. Experts make clear that these two factors cannot be untangled, but the positive side of the new notification system is undeniable: it forces more people to recognize that they may be targets.
The practical recommendation for anyone who receives an alert: turn on Lockdown Mode. Apple states it has not recorded a single case of spyware successfully compromising a device while this feature was enabled.