- Apple warned users in France about a new spyware campaign targeting their devices.
- This marks the fourth time in 2025 that French users received these notifications, according to CERT-FR.
- Targets include high-profile individuals such as journalists, lawyers, and government officials.
- Recent attacks exploited a vulnerability in WhatsApp and a major bug in iOS.
- An Atlantic Council report highlights a rise in U.S. investments in the global spyware industry.
Apple sent alerts to users in France on September 3, 2025, about an active spyware campaign threatening their devices. The alert, confirmed by the Computer Emergency Response Team of France (CERT-FR), was part of ongoing efforts to inform users when their security may be compromised.
CERT-FR stated this is the fourth notification of this kind sent to French users in 2025. Previous warnings were issued on March 5, April 29, and June 25. Apple has followed this procedure since November 2021, advising users when their iCloud-linked devices could be at risk from highly targeted attacks. No further details on what triggered the latest alerts were shared by the agency.
According to CERT-FR, “These complex attacks target individuals for their status or function: journalists, lawyers, activists, politicians, senior officials, members of steering committees of strategic sectors, etc.” A recent development saw a WhatsApp vulnerability (CVE-2025-55177) combined with an Apple iOS bug (CVE-2025-43300) to deliver “zero-click” attacks. Zero-click attacks allow Hackers to compromise devices without user interaction. Following these incidents, WhatsApp confirmed it sent warnings to fewer than 200 users possibly targeted during the campaign. The identity of the commercial spyware vendor involved remains unknown.
In response to such threats, Apple introduced a new security measure called Memory Integrity Enforcement (MIE) in its latest iPhone models. This feature is designed to prevent types of Hacking known as memory corruption, making it harder for attackers to install spyware through undisclosed software flaws, often called zero-day vulnerabilities.
A separate study from the Atlantic Council reported a steep increase in U.S. investment in spyware and surveillance technologies – from 11 investors in 2023 to 31 in the past year. The report notes that, “The quantity of U.S.-based entities investing in the spyware market is three times greater than in the next three highest countries with the most investors,” with major participants also in Israel, Italy, and the United Kingdom. The study identifies a range of actors, including holding firms, individual investors, and suppliers, and notes that the market has seen new entities established in Japan, Malaysia, and Panama.
The report also points out that resellers and brokers are now critical in the spyware supply chain and are frequently overlooked in policy discussions.
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