Apple’s security has been targeted by cybercriminals through an IOS security issue in 2025!
NO, it wasn’t another phishing scam or a new social-engineering tactic.
The unknown spyware group has targeted a specific group of high-profile individuals through sophisticated cyberattacks.
The latest iPhone security breach 2025, resulted through vulnerability in WhatsApp and exploited zero-click attack.
Are you interested in knowing what an iPhone malware threat is?
Let’s explore the current iPhone security breach 2025. Learn about the vulnerable parties, and how to protect your iPhone in case of security breach.
Is the Apple security breach real?
The simple answer is Yes. Apple and Meta both disclosed that a sophisticated zero-click attack was exploited to target journalists and high-profile individuals.
The iPhone security breach 2025 isn’t a usual large-scale cyberattack, since Apple has a better security system.
However, still selective iPhone users were affected due to this spyware attack that exploited vulnerabilities in WhatsApp IOS applications.
This cyberattack is considered as a serious IOS security issue and Apple rolled out security updates in August to resolve it.
The iPhone vulnerability 2025 cyberattack resulted from the following kind of vulnerabilities:
WhatsApp Vulnerability (CVE-2025-55177)
According to the head of the security lab Amnesty, the CVE-2025-55177 was related to the WhatsApp IOS and MAC apps.
He then shared that an authorization bypass on the messaging app by Meta helped cybercriminals in processing malicious content on the victim’s device.
The WhatsApp Security team updated in August regarding CVE-2025-55177 bug.
They said that this vulnerability, “…allowed an unrelated user to trigger processing of content from an arbitrary URL on a target’s device.”
The security team also shared that this vulnerability was linked with a previous Apple IOS security issue named, CVE-2025-43300.
WhatsApp also stated that this zero-click cyberattack was used sophisticatedly to target a specific set of high-profile individuals.
Apple iOS Security issue (CVE-2025-43300)
This bug was a core iPhone vulnerability 2025 named as CVE-2025-43300, found in Apple’s ImageIO.
Apple reported that CVE-2025-43300 vulnerability was an out-of-bounds write issue that processed malicious images on the victim’s iPhone.
Apple patched this issue on 20 August and stated, “…this issue may have been exploited in an extremely sophisticated attack against specific targeted individuals.”
Amnesty’s head also indicated that this vulnerability targeted both iPhone and Android users.
He also appreciated both Apple and WhatsApp for identifying these cyberthreats against journalists and individuals from NGOs.
This iPhone security breach 2025 also highlighted that mercenary spyware attacks can be used to target small and specialized groups.
How do I know if my iPhone has been hacked?
We often see such alert warnings pop up on our smartphones, that identifying the real threat gets hard for average users.
Whenever people hear about an Apple app vulnerability or an IOS security issue, the first question that pops up in their head is,
“How to know if your iPhone gets hacked?”
Even though the latest iPhone security breach 2025 was not a large-scale iPhone malware threat, one should stay alert!
Does Apple notify you if your phone is hacked?
Yes, big tech companies like Apple and Meta notify the victims in case of a security breach.
However, these companies send such notifications only when compromised data is highly sensitive and cyberattacks are high-profile.
Techcruch says that Meta identified the vulnerability CVE-2025-55177, patched it and sent threat-notifications in the app.
The threat notifications sent were less than 200 in number, so we can deduce that the affected parties were specifically targeted.
Even Apple sends threat notifications to the victims of mercenary spyware attacks in their Apple accounts, through emails and iMessage.
Pro tip to identify real Apple security alerts is that they never appear as pop-ups.
What is the message your device is at risk?
Such messages are mostly a scam, if they suddenly pop-up on your screen. The best thing is to ignore such fake alerts and report them.
Real threat notifications for your iPhone are mostly visible in your Apple’s account.
Moreover, real Apple security alerts never demand for confidential information or ask you to click suspicious links.
Tips on how to secure iPhone after breach
Considering the current iPhone security breach 2025, we should always be wary of scams and ensure full protection of our device.
However, if your device is compromised during a breach, you should act immediately to minimize the impact.
How to get rid of Apple security breach on iPhone?
The simplest tip for average iPhone users is to always ensure that their IOS and other apps like WhatsApp are updated to the latest version.
Selective high-profile iPhone users like social activists, government employees, journalists and more should get in touch with Apple to mitigate risks.
CISA also suggested to stop using affected devices, if risk can’t be eliminated.
Purpose of iPhone factory reset warning
High-profile individuals are often given iPhone factory reset warnings in case of serious security breach.
This is to ensure that the device is eliminated from potential iPhone malware threat or Apple app data leak.
Stay Alert and update your devices
Even though average iPhone users weren’t affected during the iPhone security breach 2025,
This Apple app vulnerability should be enough to alert iPhone users worldwide that no kind of robust software is immune from cyberthreats.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Is it okay to use a phone without security updates?
No, you should never use a phone without security updates. Security updates are released by smartphone companies, such as Apple and Samsung with security patches.
These patches are meant to resolve issues from previously installed updates as well as fixing any bugs in your device.
If you avoid the installation of security updates, your iPhone or Android will be more vulnerable to cyberattacks. An outdated device ends up compromising sensitive user data including their personal or financial details.
Q. How to run an iPhone security check?
Apple’s built-in feature, Security check is available for iPhone with IOS 16 and later IOS versions.
This feature helps iPhone users to review, update as well as stop the sharing of information with apps or individuals.
You can run this iPhone security check by simply following these steps:
- Open your iPhone
- Tap Settings icon
- Go to Privacy & Security.
- Then go to Security Check
You will find two options in Security check, namely:
- Emergency Reset: Perform a quick reset for access to different apps and people.
- Manage Sharing and Access: Customize access for different apps and people.
Q. How does Apple notify you of a security breach?
Apple uses threat notifications to inform users of a security breach. According to Apple, they have detected sophisticated mercenary spyware attacks from 2021.
From then on, the Tech giant has been using Threat Notifications to alert the affected users.
The company use threat notifications in two ways, such as,
- Notification on the top of a user’s Apple account page.
- Email and iMessage to the affected user’s email and phone number.
Q. Can you get a security breach on an iPhone?
Even though Apple prides itself on its robust and secure devices, they can still get hacked.
iPhone can get affected by malicious software, phishing scams, zero-click attacks or data breach.
