According to two so-called targets, Apple this week notified several people that it was considered government spyware.

In the past, Apple has sent similar notifications to targets and victims of spyware and directed them to contact nonprofits specializing in such cyberattacks. In recent years, other technology companies such as Google and WhatsApp have also regularly sent users such notifications.

As of Wednesday, only two people appeared to have revealed they were the ones who received Apple's notification this week.

One is Italian journalist Ciro Pellegrino, who works on the online news media fan page. Pellegrino wrote in an article that he received an email and a text from Apple on Tuesday informing him that his target was spyware. According to Pellegrino, the information also says he is not the only one to target.

"Today's notification has been sent to affected users in 100 countries," said Pellegrino's article.

"Is this really happening? Yes, it's not a joke," Pellegrino wrote.

The second person to receive Apple's notification was Dutch right-wing activist Eva Vlaardingerbroek, who posted on X on Wednesday.

Apple alerted: "Apple discovered targeted mercenary spyware attacks against iPhones.

Vlaardingerbroek responded to the notification, an attempt to intimidate me, obviously, was an attempt to silence me.”

Neither Pellegrino nor Vlaardingerbroek responded to TechCrunch's request for comment.

It is not clear what spyware activity Apple notifies of is related to. Apple notified users in dozens of countries twice last year, with their targets of unspecified spyware.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Pellegrino is the second Italian journalist this year who has been notified as the target of this type of spyware, given that the company is often developed by companies that subsequently sell technology to the government, sometimes referred to as "mercenary" spyware.

In February, WhatsApp notified Pellegrino's fan PANP colleague Francesco Cancellato that the company "interrupted a spy company's activity that we think is attacking your device."

According to WhatsApp, in the case of Cancellato, the spyware was made by Israeli company Paragon Solutions. Digital rights group Citizen Lab has conducted more than a decade of investigation into spyware and he confirmed they are investigating these attacks against WhatsApp users.

After Cancellato stepped up, two other Italians saved humanity in the Mediterranean, an anarchy that helped rescue immigrants, and they also said it was Paragon’s goal.

Paragon reportedly broke ties with Italian government clients after these revelations.