Apple appears to be adding another layer of protection to iMessage against scams and cyberattacks. Code discovered in iOS 26.6 beta 5 reveals a feature called Malicious Message Detected.

It pops up a warning when your iPhone identifies a potentially dangerous incoming message. The feature was first spotted by X user, who shared a mockup of the alert.

How the new iMessage alert works

According to MacRumors, when the alert fires, it tells you the message may be trying to harm your iPhone or compromise your privacy. You then get three options to choose from.

Tapping on “Share With Apple” sends the suspicious message to Apple so it can investigate and improve future defenses. “Don’t Report” dismisses the alert without sharing anything. The “Not Now” option likely snoozes the alert and brings it back later rather than ignoring it permanently.

Why Apple is adding another security layer

iMessage has a complicated security history. Apple added a sandboxing system called BlastDoor in iOS 14 to isolate Messages from the rest of the system. Despite that, a zero-click iMessage exploit in 2021 still managed to bypass it entirely and install Pegasus spyware on targeted devices without any user interaction at all.

Apple has since added Lockdown Mode and iMessage Contact Key Verification as additional safeguards. This new alert appears to be another layer on top of those, letting Apple crowdsource real-world threat intelligence from users who encounter suspicious messages.

There is one wrinkle worth flagging, though. The new pop-up looks a lot like the fake scam alerts that sometimes appear in Safari, which could confuse users into ignoring a real warning. Since the feature is still in beta, there is hope Apple will clean up the design before it goes public. iOS 26.6 is expected to launch around the end of July.