FILE - A child holds an iPhone at an Apple store on Sept. 25, 2015 in Chicago. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File) The Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- WASHINGTON (AP) —

Cybersecurity investigators noticed a highly unusual software crash — it was affecting a small number of smartphones belonging to people who worked in government, politics, tech and journalism.

The crashes, which began late last year and carried into 2025, were the tipoff to a sophisticated cyberattack that may have allowed hackers to infiltrate a phone without a single click from the user.

The attackers left no clues about their identities, but investigators at the cybersecurity firm iVerify noticed that the victims all had something in common: They worked in fields of interest to China's government and had been target

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