apple: Apple sounds alarm over hacking, govt orders probe

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 Tuesday, prompting New Delhi to order a probe of the reported bids to hack into the seemingly breach-proof mobile devices caught in the poll-season political maelstrom.

“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,” electronics and IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a post on social platform X. “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.”

Users facing such attacks are “individually targeted because of who they are or what they do”, said Apple’s alert message. The company later said in a statement that it did not attribute to a “specific state-sponsored attacker” the threat warnings sent to the iPhone-users.

Also read | ETtech Explainer: why Apple sent emails about ‘state-sponsored attacks’ to opposition leaders

MoS for electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that the government will investigate these threat notifications and also Apple’s claims of being secure and privacy compliant devices.

‘Can’t Provide Info on Cause’

“After today’s ‘threat notifications’ being received by many people including MPs and those in geopolitics, we expect Apple to clarify the following: If its devices are secure, why are these ‘threat notifications’ sent to people in over 150 countries? Because, Apple has repeatedly claimed their products are designed for privacy,” Chandrasekhar said on X.Since early Tuesday, Opposition leaders such as Trinamool Congress’ Mohua Moitra, Shiv Sena (Uddhav)’s