Apple has reportedly sent a fresh round of threat notifications to iPhone users in dozens of countries, warning them that they may have been targeted by mercenary spyware, according to reports from the Financial Times and TechCrunch that were summarized by 9to5Mac on Monday.
Ninety-nine countries
TechCrunch says the figure of 99 countries comes from an alert received by Radwan Mortada, a Beirut-based filmmaker who shared his notification on X. Mortada was previously targeted with Pegasus spyware in 2017 and 2021, and he told the outlet he does not know who was behind the latest attempt or whether it is connected to a documentary he directed.
Alarm in Germany
The Financial Times reports that German lawmakers and government officials began receiving Apple's warnings last Thursday. Over the weekend, Germany's Federal Office for Information Security issued an urgent warning advising recipients to assume their device is no longer secure. Government spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said Berlin was taking the incident and the warning very seriously, but he declined to say whether Chancellor Friedrich Merz was among those affected.
A zero-click method
According to the Financial Times, the attacks are believed to rely on a zero-click vulnerability, meaning a target does not have to tap a link or open a file. Knowing a victim's phone number is reportedly enough for the attackers to attempt an intrusion. It remains unclear who is responsible or which government, if any, is behind the campaign.
What Apple does and does not say
Apple's threat notifications are sent periodically to people it believes may have been individually targeted by state-sponsored or mercenary spyware. The company does not disclose who may be behind such attacks, and it does not confirm whether a particular device has actually been compromised. It advises recipients to take the warnings seriously and to seek expert assistance. The company's support page on protecting against mercenary spyware recommends measures that include turning on Lockdown Mode, an optional protection designed for people at elevated risk.
9to5Mac notes that Apple previously sent a worldwide wave of similar notifications in August 2026.
The details of the German case, including the exact vulnerability involved, come from press reports and have not been independently confirmed by Apple. We will update this story if Apple or government officials share more information.
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