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