Технологийн аварга компани засгийн газрын түвшний хортой программ хангамжид өртсөн байж болзошгүй 110 орны хэрэглэгчиддээ албан ёсны мэдэгдэл хүргүүллээ
Apple компани баасан гарагт 110 улсад байгаа хэрэглэгчдэдээ зориулан “хөлсний тагнуулын программ” (mercenary spyware)-д өртсөн байж болзошгүй тухай сэрэмжлүүлгийг илгээжээ. Энэхүү үйл явдлын дараа тусламж хүссэн хэрэглэгчдийн тоо өмнөх мэдэгдлүүдээс 30-40 хувиар өссөн нь уг халдлага өргөн хүрээг хамарсан болохыг харуулж байна. Тус компани сүүлийн хэдэн жилийн хугацаанд 150 гаруй орны хэрэглэгчдэд ижил төстэй анхааруулгыг хүргүүлээд байгаа юм.
Access Now байгууллагын мэдээлснээр, сүүлийн өдрүүдэд тусламж хүссэн иргэдийн тоо дээд цэгтээ хүрсэн бөгөөд үүнд урьд өмнө халдлагад өртөж байсан хэрэглэгчид ч багтаж байна. Тухайлбал, Украины зэвсэгт хүчний нэгэн цэрэг Apple-аас ирсэн мэдэгдлийг баталгаажуулсны дараа өөрийн төхөөрөмж нь бай болсныг мэдсэн байна. Citizen Lab-ын судлаач Жон Скотт-Рэйлтоны үзэж буйгаар, олон нийтийн сүлжээнд тархаж буй мэдээллүүд нь тагнуулын программ ашигласан халдлага хүмүүсийн төсөөлж байснаас илүү өргөн хүрээтэй байгааг илтгэж байна.
Хэрэглэгчдийн дунд ийнхүү түгшүүр нэмэгдэхэд Apple-ийн мэдэгдэл хүргэх шинэ аргачлал нөлөөлсөн байх магадлалтай гэж шинжээчид үзэж байна. Одоо тус компани iPhone-ийн цоожтой дэлгэц, тохиргооны хэсэг болон Apple бүртгэлтэй холбоотой и-мэйл хаягаар дамжуулан анхааруулга илгээдэг болсон нь хэрэглэгчдэд мэдээллийг үл тоомсорлох боломжгүй болгожээ.
Аюулгүй байдлын мэргэжилтнүүд болзошгүй эрсдэлээс сэргийлэхийн тулд iPhone, iPad болон Mac төхөөрөмжүүд дээрх “Lockdown Mode”-ийг идэвхжүүлэхийг зөвлөж байна. Apple компанийн зүгээс уг хамгаалалтын горимыг ашиглаж буй хэрэглэгчид тагнуулын программд өртсөн тохиолдол одоогоор бүртгэгдээгүй болохыг мэдэгдсэн юм.
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An unprecedented number of Apple customers have reported receiving a recent threat notification alerting them to suspected spyware attacks targeting their devices, according to experts who investigate these types of incidents.
Several people publicly and privately reported receiving Apple’s spyware alerts over the weekend, after Apple sent out a new wave of notifications on Friday alerting customers in 110 countries that they had been targeted with powerful spyware.
From time to time, the technology giant sends these types of alerts in batches to customers that it believes have been either targeted or compromised with malware normally used by governments, which the company refers to as “mercenary spyware.” In the last few years, Apple says it has alerted people in more than 150 countries.
The latest batch appears to have been the largest yet, per one of the digital rights groups that Apple suggests victims of spyware reach out for help.
Mohammed Al-Maskati, the director of the Access Now team of investigators who review and investigate reports to the helpline, told TechCrunch that since Friday, they have received a record high number of people reaching out for help. This includes people who had already received threat notifications in the past.
Al-Maskati said the number is around 30% to 40% more than the nonprofit’s investigators usually receive after Apple sends out new notifications.
An unusually large number of people have also publicly reported receiving these notifications over the weekend as well, according to several social media posts.
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Have you received a notification from Apple about being targeted with mercenary spyware? Or do you have information about spyware makers? We would love to hear from you. From a non-work device, you can contact Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai securely on Signal at +1 917 257 1382, or via Telegram and Keybase @lorenzofb, or email.
One of them is a Ukraine Armed Forces soldier who said he is fighting the war against Russia. The soldier, who asked to remain anonymous to protect himself, said that he initially thought it was a scam, until he verified it with Apple.
“I was a bit surprised to be honest, I wouldn’t have thought I was important enough for them to target me like this. I am flattered though,” the soldier told TechCrunch.
The soldier also said that he is aware of other people in Ukraine’s military who have received the same notification. “They were a bit worried,” he said.
The Computer Emergency Response Team of Ukraine (CERT-UA) did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment, asking whether it was aware of other Ukrainians, particularly soldiers, receiving these notifications.
John Scott-Railton, a senior researcher at The Citizen Lab, a digital rights group that has investigated government spyware attacks for more than 15 years, told TechCrunch that the reports show that spyware attacks may be more prevalent than people realize.
“The scale and geographic diversity of public posts about receiving notifications are pretty unprecedented,” said Scott-Railton. “For every public notification like this, you can imagine there’s a huge notification iceberg that the public will never learn about. This is a clear indication that something bigger is going on.”
Both Al-Maskati and Scott-Railton said that the volume of people receiving the alerts could also be attributed to Apple’s new methods of alerting users.
Starting this year, Apple now notifies users on their iPhone lock screen, in their Settings app, via the email associated with their Apple account, and when users log in to their Apple Account on the web.
“Apple’s new notification method has helped raise awareness of the issue’s importance, making it harder for users to ignore,” Al-Maskati said.
Apple did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.
If you’ve received one of these notifications, take it seriously. If you are not a journalist, dissident, or human rights defender, there are other organizations that can help you investigate.
If you haven’t already, as Apple and experts suggest, turn on Lockdown Mode, a special security feature designed to make it harder to hack iPhones, iPads, and Mac computers. Apple has said that it is not aware of anyone who had Lockdown Mode enabled getting hacked.
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