Messages from Apple to iPhones of several opposition lawmakers and journalists warning them that they could be potential targets of an unspecified ‘state-sponsored’ privacy attack raised a furore in India on Tuesday, catching the government in the eye of a political storm.
The allegations prompted New Delhi to order a probe of the reported bids to hack into the seemingly breach-proof mobile devices.
Users facing such attacks are “individually targeted because of who they are or what they do”, said Apple’s alert message.
Several opposition leaders shared screenshots on social media platform X of messages received on their iPhones warning them that their device was under threat of state-sponsored attack.
Dear Modi Sarkar, why are you doing this? pic.twitter.com/3hWmAx00ql
— Pawan Khera ?? (@Pawankhera) October 31, 2023
Apple later said in a statement that it did not attribute to a “specific state-sponsored attacker” the threat warnings sent to the iPhone users.
“The Government of Bharat takes its role of protecting the privacy and security of all citizens very seriously and will investigate to get to the bottom of these notifications,” India’s electronics and IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a post on social platform X.
The Government of Bharat takes its role of protecting the privacy and security of all citizens very seriously and will investigate to get to the bottom of these notifications. (4/5)
— Ashwini Vaishnaw (@AshwiniVaishnaw) October 31, 2023
“In light of such information and widespread speculation, we have asked Apple to join the probe with real, accurate information on the alleged state-sponsored attacks,” he said.
In light of such information and widespread speculation, we have also asked Apple to join the investigation with real, accurate information on the alleged state sponsored attacks. (5/5)
— Ashwini Vaishnaw (@AshwiniVaishnaw) October 31, 2023
Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar also said that the government will investigate these notifications and also Apple’s claims of being secure and privacy-compliant devices.
State-sponsored threat alerts by Apple
In its clarification, Apple said it does not attribute the threat notifications to any specific state-sponsored attacker.
It said that state-sponsored attackers are very well-funded and sophisticated, and detecting such attacks relies on threat intelligence signals that are often imperfect and incomplete.
The company also did not rule out the possibility of such threat notifications being false alarms.
“We are unable to provide information about what causes us to issue threat notifications, as that may help state-sponsored attackers adapt their behaviour to evade detection in the future,” Apple said.
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