Apple Inc, the technology major, has
decided to make its users aware if they have been spied upon by Pegasus, the
NSO Group-backed spyware. Last week, Apple sued the NSO Group accusing the
Israel-based tech firm of spying on users and claiming that it broke United
States law by selling spyware to hack into iPhones. 

According
to a statement by Apple, if users of iPhones and other Apple devices are
targeted by the spyware, it will send an iMessage and an email to the addresses
on file, and a Threat Notification will be displayed when the user signs into
Apple ID.

Also Read | Apple sues Pegasus-owner NSO Group for spying on US users

Apple
said that these users who were targeted by the spyware were targeted
individually because of “who they are or what they do”. “Unlike
traditional cybercriminals, state-sponsored attackers apply exceptional
resources to target specific individuals and their devices, which makes these
attacks much harder to detect and prevent,” Apple claimed. 

Further,
the technology major added that state-sponsored attacks are highly complex and
cost millions of dollars to develop and have a short shelf life and assuaged
concerns of users saying that a majority of users will never be targeted by
such attacks.

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NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware has been in
the news over the last one year because of allegations that the spyware was
used to target civilians, including human rights workers and journalists.

The Israel-based group says that it only
sells its spyware to governments and that its technology in the hands of
enforcement agencies “saves thousands of lives”.

“Paedophiles and terrorists can freely
operate in technological safe-havens and we provide governments the lawful
tools to fight it. NSO Group will continue to advocate for the truth,” the
company said in a statement issued earlier this month.

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While Apple is the only tech giant to formally
file a lawsuit against the NSO Group, other tech majors including
Facebook-turned-Meta Platforms and Microsoft have criticised the firm of
impinging upon privacy of its users.

In the lawsuit, Apple has accused
the NSO Group of creating over 100 Apple ID user credentials to carry out
attacks on users.