Apple sent new round of cyber threat notifications to users in 84 countries

Washington: Apple has sent a new round of cyber threat notifications to users in 84 countries, the company said on Friday, announcing its latest efforts to insulate customers against surveillance threats.

Apple is one of several tech companies that regularly issue warnings to users when it determines they may have been targeted by state-backed hackers. Apple's statement, which said the warnings were issued on December 2, carried few further details about the alleged surveillance and did not address questions about the number of users targeted or say who was thought to be carrying out the surveillance.

Previous waves of warnings have triggered headlines and prompted investigations by government bodies, including the European Union, whose senior officials have previously been targeted using spyware.

Apple's statement said that "to date we have notified users in over 150 countries in total."