Tag Archive for: allegations

Election campaigns in Kerala turn ugly: Cyber warfare, personal attacks and allegations galore – SPECIAL – GENERAL

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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In the midst of the parliamentary election campaign in the state, which will last only a week, the competition has turned to personal attacks and cyber warfare against candidates, intensifying the already fierce atmosphere.

Former minister and LDF candidate from Vadakara, KK Shailaja, once again came forward yesterday demanding action as cyber attacks escalated. Shailaja alleged in a complaint to the Central Election Commission and the Chief Minister that there is an organized attempt by a criminal gang in the UDF to personally smear her using morphed photos, with the alleged connivance of UDF candidate Shafi Parambil. PM State Secretary MV Govindan accused a section of the media of abetting this.

Meanwhile, Shafi Parambil approached the High Court seeking to halt the fake votes planned by the LDF in Vadakara. Alleging that most of the polling officers and policemen assigned to election duty are Left sympathizers, Shafi also blamed the Panoor bomb blast.

In a petition filed by sitting MP Adoor Prakash in the High Court, the demand is to remove about one and a half lakh double votes in the Attingal constituency. LDF candidate V Joy’s response is that he is being accused out of fear of failure.

BJP targets Tharoor

BJP is targeting Tharoor, citing Supreme Court lawyer Jai Anand’s revelation that Thiruvananthapuram sitting MP and Congress Working Committee member Shashi Tharoor behaved indecently with a woman in a Delhi hotel in October 2022. It was also alleged that media activist Karan Thapar tried to cover up the complaint. BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya demanded answers from Tharoor and Thapar. Tharoor’s stance is that the allegation is timed before the election and if the woman has a complaint, she should come forward with proof.

CM responds to Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has accused the Chief Minister and his daughter of corruption, has stated that the culprits will not be spared, which is being interpreted as an indication of internal drama ahead of the elections. Yesterday, the Chief Minister responded that there are clear records of the money transfer between the two companies and no…

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Why Apple risks facing India’s scrutiny after ‘hacking’ allegations against Modi government

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(Getty)

(Getty)

India’s lawmakers could pull up Apple representatives after several politicians from the country’s opposition said they received alerts on their iPhones warning them of “state-sponsored” hacking.

Ministers of the Narendra Modi-led government on Tuesday said they will investigate the allegations and “get to the bottom of these notifications” after screenshots of the alert sent by the American tech giant went viral on social media.

While opposition politicians have accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) administration of spying on rivals and critics ahead of national elections in 2024, it could be Apple that soon faces the scrutiny of the Indian government.

A parliamentary committee on information technology is considering summoning representatives of Apple India over the alerts sent to public figures, an unnamed official of the committee was quoted as saying by news agency ANI on Wednesday.

The committee’s secretariat expressed “deep concern” over the alerts and is treating the matter with the “utmost seriousness”, the official said.

A minister from the Modi government also said Apple should explain what the notification means, especially their claims about the security of their devices.

“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 these ‘threat notifications’ are sent to people in over 150 countries,” said Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the minister of state for electronics and information technology, on X/Twitter.

The BJP’s lawmakers have also rubbished allegations of hacking made by opposition politicians.

“Apple believes you are being targeted by state-sponsored attackers who are trying to remotely compromise the iPhone associated with your Apple ID,” said a screenshot of the alert shared by opposition members.

“If your device is compromised by a state-sponsored attacker, they may be able to remotely access your sensitive data, communications, or even the camera and microphone.

“While it’s possible this is a false alarm, please take this warning seriously,” it said.

The alerts were sent by…

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Missile Maker MBDA Refutes Hacking Allegations

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European missile maker MBDA has publicly denied some of the hacking allegations against the company made on a dark web forum in July and posted on Twitter by Today Cyber News on Tuesday.

The self-proclaimed hacking group who first made the allegation went under the name “Andrastea,” and claimed to have obtained roughly 60 GB of data from MBDA and then put it for sale on the dark web after breaking into MBDA’s systems.

According to Andrastea, the group would have managed to obtain files describing military projects, alongside information related to commercial activities, contracts, and messages exchanged with other companies, among other things.

MBDA is now refuting these claims, in a series of blog posts (in different languages) published on Monday.

“MBDA is refuting the alleged ‘hacking’ of the company’s information systems, and has filed a report with police of an attempt to blackmail the company,” read one of the posts.

“Following the company’s refusal to yield to this blackmail threat and pay a ransom demand, the criminal group has spread information on the internet, making it accessible for a payment.”

Specifically, the company clarifies that while some files were indeed stolen, the company was not hacked and its security systems remain intact, as the company has “state-of-the-art cyber protection systems” in place to face these kinds of criminal activity.

“The origin of the data has already been ascertained, having been acquired from an external hard drive,” MBDA wrote.

“It has been confirmed that no hacking of the company’s secure networks has occurred. So far, the company’s internal verification processes indicate that the data made available online are neither classified data nor sensitive.”

Further, MBDA said the Italian national authorities are currently investigating the matter, and the company said it is supporting their efforts.

“The company will take all possible legal actions in the face of what is a criminal act of blackmail.”

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Allegations of Chinese hacking in Ukraine not credible: Embassy

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Allegations of Chinese hacking in Ukraine, published by British newspaper The Times on Friday, are irresponsible and not credible, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in the UK said on Monday.

The spokesperson noted Ukraine has stated it had not shared any official information with The Times and that no investigation was underway.

“It must be pointed out that for a time The Times reports on China have been untrue, deliberately distorting and even slanderous,” the spokesperson said. “This seriously runs counter to the professional ethics of journalism and misleads the readers, so we strongly condemn this wrong practice.” 

The spokesperson made the remarks in response to a media query regarding a report published by The Times, citing a source in Ukraine’s security service (SBU), claiming that China staged a huge cyber attack on Ukraine before Russia’s “special military operation” began.

“As for China’s position on the Ukraine issue… China is always a force for safeguarding world peace. We have always been for peace and against war, assessed the situation on the merits of the issue itself, and taken an independent position in a just and objective manner.”

China has proposed a plan to solve the crisis, which stresses the pressing priority is for all sides to jointly support the parties involved to have dialogue and negotiation that will produce results, lead to peace and prevent the situation from worsening, the spokesperson noted.

To achieve an enduring solution, it is imperative for the relevant sides to reject the Cold War mentality, refrain from bloc confrontation, and build through negotiation a truly balanced, effective and sustainable regional security architecture, so as to achieve long-term stability on the European continent, the spokesperson continued.

“We will never accept any external coercion or pressure, and we oppose any groundless accusation against China,” the spokesperson said, adding that China always stands on the side of peace and on the right side of history.

(Cover: A picture of a computer hacker. /CFP)

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