For two years leading up to last month, "hacked websites" were used to attack iPhones, with every iPhone potentially vulnerable, according to Forbes.
The sophisticated hacks were discovered by cybersecurity researchers with Google's Project Zero, who announced last month that iPhone users who visited certain malicious websites could be vulnerable to surveillance across the phone's entire software, including passwords, messages, and location data.
The attack bore the signs of a state-backed effort, and was likely an attempt by the Chinese government to monitor Uighur Muslims, TechCrunch reported.
Apple downplayed the scope of the attack in the days following Google's announcement, stating that the problem was patched within 10 days of the discovery and that the malicious websites comprised "a few dozen" sites specifically targeting Uighur users.