Apple rolled out the security patches for dozens of iPhone and iPad models and generations.

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Russian intelligence-affiliated hackers have gained access to thousands of users’ messaging apps with a global phishing campaign, the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency warned in a public service announcement on Friday.

The high-value targets they’re pursuing include current and former U.S. government officials, political figures, military personnel and journalists, the two agencies said in the joint PSA about the hackers’ attempts to infiltrate commercial messaging applications (CMAs).

The U.S. alert comes on the heels of an earlier warning from Dutch authorities, who said last week that Russian hackers were “engaged in a large-scale global attempt” to take over WhatsApp and Signal accounts. The Dutch warning likewise followed a similar warning from Germany in February.

The U.S. agencies emphasized that the hackers had not been able to bypass end-to-end encryption, instead manipulating users into giving up access. The scheme involves hackers posing as Signal help personnel, then inviting them to click a link or provide verification codes or account personal identification number.

“After compromising an account, malicious actors can view the victims’ messages and contact lists, send messages, and conduct additional phishing against other CMA accounts,” the PSA explains. “(Note: reporting shows that the threat actors specifically target Signal accounts but can apply similar methods against other CMAs).”

However, “CMA users who strengthen their personal cybersecurity and defend against social engineering attempts can reduce the risk of account compromise and limit the effectiveness of the threat actors’ current tactics, techniques, and procedures,” the agencies said.

The Russian campaign is just the latest to seek to bypass the protections commercial messaging apps offer. CISA in November warned about spyware targeting of messaging apps. 

There sometimes has been a Russian intelligence nexus to the recent targeting. Google Threat Intelligence Group shined a spotlight last year on Russian attempts to target Signal users in Ukraine.

‘We anticipate the tactics and methods used to target Signal will grow in prevalence in the near-term and proliferate to additional threat actors and regions outside the Ukrainian theater of war,” the company said.

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The Defense Department would require that senior leaders have secure mobile phones, that personnel would get cybersecurity training that includes a focus on artificial intelligence and that cyber troops would have access to mental health services under a compromise annual defense policy bill released over the weekend.

The deal between House and Senate negotiators on the fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is a massive piece of legislation that runs the gamut of the Pentagon, including a record-breaking $901 billion topline figure. It also has a grab bag of cybersecurity policy provisions. The House could take it up as soon as this week.

The legislation states that the secretary of defense “shall ensure” that wireless mobile phones the department provides to its senior leaders and others working on sensitive national security missions meets a list of cybersecurity requirements, such as data encryption. A Pentagon watchdog last week published long-awaited examinations of the Signalgate incident that enveloped Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. 

The bill directs the department to make sure that behavioral health specialists with proper security clearances are dispatched to United States Cyber Command and the Cyber Mission Force. It follows in the tradition of past provisions of defense policy bills to address the mental health needs of personnel there.

The department is told to revise mandatory training on cybersecurity for members of the Armed Forces and civilian employees “to include content related to the unique cybersecurity challenges posed by the use of artificial intelligence.”

There are plenty of other cybersecurity provisions contained in the bill.

It would set up barriers to splitting the leadership of Cyber Command and the National Security Agency by prohibiting any department funding from being used to “reduce or diminish the responsibilities, authorities or organizational oversight of the Commander of the United States Cyber Command.”

On behalf of defense contractors, the bill orders the department to “harmonize the cybersecurity requirements” across the department and reduce the number of cybersecurity requirements “that are unique to specific contracts.” That’s a focus of the forthcoming Trump administration cybersecurity strategy.

It also includes a statement of policy on the use of commercial spyware. It says that policy is to oppose the misuse of commercial spyware to include groups like journalists and human rights activists, to coordinate with allies to prevent the export of commercial spyware to those who are likely to misuse them and to “establish robust guardrails,” as well as work with the private sector counter abuse.

Such statements of policy don’t carry legal force but give a sense of lawmaker consensus and intentions.

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The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency warned Monday about threat groups using commercial spyware to target messaging apps, and urged users to take protective steps.

“CISA is aware of multiple cyber threat actors actively leveraging commercial spyware to target users of mobile messaging applications (apps),” the agency said in a brief online notice. “These cyber actors use sophisticated targeting and social engineering techniques to deliver spyware and gain unauthorized access to a victim’s messaging app, facilitating the deployment of additional malicious payloads that can further compromise the victim’s mobile device.”

The warning draws on research this year that calls attention to hackers who are mimicking popular apps to deploy Android spyware, as well as Android spyware targeting Samsung devices by sending image files over WhatsApp. The warning also piggybacks on research about Russian hackers infecting Signal accounts.

“While current targeting remains opportunistic, evidence suggests these cyber actors focus on high-value individuals, such as current and former high-ranking government, military, and political officials, as well as civil society organizations (CSOs) and individuals across the United States, Middle East, and Europe,” the CISA warning states.

It’s rare, but not unheard of, for CISA to warn about spyware threats. One alert dates back to 2009 from a predecessor to CISA. It has released cybersecurity advice for dealing with spyware, and placed vulnerabilities that spyware vendors have exploited on its so-called “must-patch” list for federal agencies, including the recent Samsung vulnerability.

This time, CISA directed users to mobile security guidelines and advice for civil society groups. 

Beyond the warnings about targeting messaging apps, CISA also said threat groups are using malicious QR codes and zero-click exploits, which infect users even if they don’t take any direct action themselves.

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