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	"title": "Apple warns Armenians of state-sponsored hacking attempts",
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	"plain_text": "Apple warns Armenians of state-sponsored hacking attempts\r\nBy Daryna Antoniuk\r\nPublished: 2023-11-03 · Archived: 2026-04-06 02:59:36 UTC\r\nApple has sent alerts to people in Armenia in recent weeks that their phones are being targeted by state-sponsored\r\nhackers, with several cybersecurity experts warning that it is likely tied to Pegasus spyware.\r\nCyberHUB, an Armenian digital rights organization that is investigating the incidents, said the number of spyware\r\ninfections in the country has been steadily increasing over the last two years. Many infections are linked to the\r\ngovernment of Azerbaijan, which has had a history of conflict with Armenia especially concerning the disputed\r\nNagorno-Karabakh region.\r\n“In the case of Armenia, these warnings mean that the phone was infected with Pegasus spyware,” said\r\nCyberHUB co-founder Samvel Martirosyan, referring to the surveillance tool developed by Israeli firm NSO\r\nGroup and sold to governments around the world.\r\nAlthough Apple’s notifications did not specify the spyware used or identify who was responsible for the hack,\r\nthere is some evidence that the latest wave of infections used Pegasus, according to Natalia Krapiva, tech and\r\nlegal counsel at digital rights nonprofit Access Now. However, she said it is hard to know for certain while the\r\ninvestigation is still being carried out.\r\nNSO Group did not respond to a request for comment.\r\nMartirosyan said the spyware was likely installed on the orders of the Azerbaijani government — during the war\r\nbetween Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2020, Pegasus spyware was used to target Armenian journalists, activists,\r\ngovernment officials, and civilians. While the identity of the hackers behind the attacks remained unclear,\r\nresearchers suggested that Azerbaijan was one of the potential suspects.\r\nThe University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab identified at least two suspected Pegasus operators in Azerbaijan who\r\nhave targeted individuals within the country as well as abroad.\r\nKrapiva agreed that “the likely suspect is Azerbaijan,” because of its history with Pegasus and its close ties to\r\nIsrael.\r\nTensions have been high between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and reached a tipping point in September when\r\nAzerbaijan launched a large-scale military offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh, violating a 2020 ceasefire agreement.\r\nCyberHUB, which has been investigating Pegasus infections for two years, said that the number of hacks is\r\ngrowing in Armenia. However, the true extent of these hacks is hard to determine, as many victims prefer not to\r\nmake their cases public, according to Krapiva. Android users do not receive such notifications at all, she added.\r\nMost of the infections occur during escalations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, researchers said. Targets in\r\nArmenia have included high-ranking politicians, civil society representatives, activists, journalists, and editors.\r\nhttps://therecord.media/apple-warns-armenians-state-sponsored-hacking-attempts-azerbaijan\r\nPage 1 of 3\n\nPegasus has recently been used to target activists, politicians, and journalists in Poland, Spain and Greece. It was\r\nrecently used to target a Russian journalist while she was traveling in Germany.\r\nIn September, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe called the use of Pegasus spyware by several\r\ncountries in the region potentially illegal.\r\nClarification: A previous version of this story stated that Pegasus was used to target activists in Russia — it was\r\nspecifically used to target a Russian journalist while she was traveling in Germany, and she received the\r\nnotification in Latvia.\r\nGet more insights with the\r\nRecorded Future\r\nIntelligence Cloud.\r\nLearn more.\r\nNo previous article\r\nNo new articles\r\nhttps://therecord.media/apple-warns-armenians-state-sponsored-hacking-attempts-azerbaijan\r\nPage 2 of 3\n\nDaryna Antoniuk\r\nis a reporter for Recorded Future News based in Ukraine. She writes about cybersecurity startups, cyberattacks in\r\nEastern Europe and the state of the cyberwar between Ukraine and Russia. She previously was a tech reporter for\r\nForbes Ukraine. Her work has also been published at Sifted, The Kyiv Independent and The Kyiv Post.\r\nSource: https://therecord.media/apple-warns-armenians-state-sponsored-hacking-attempts-azerbaijan\r\nhttps://therecord.media/apple-warns-armenians-state-sponsored-hacking-attempts-azerbaijan\r\nPage 3 of 3",
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	"language": "EN",
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