NEW DELHI, Oct 31: Several opposition leaders on Tuesday claimed they received an alert from Apple warning them of “state-sponsored attackers trying to remotely compromise” their iPhones and alleged hacking by the government, a charge IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw rejected but assured a thorough probe.
Those who received such notifications included Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, party leaders Shashi Tharoor, Pawan Khera, K C Venugopal, Supriya Shrinate, T S Singhdeo and Bhupinder S Hooda; Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, Aam Aadmi Party’s Raghav Chadha, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi and some aides of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi also received the notification.
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Yechury and Chaturvedi wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while Moitra shot off a missive to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, raising concerns over the issue and demanding action.
iPhone-maker Apple Inc reacted to the claims of Opposition leaders, saying it is possible that some threat notifications may be false alarms and some attacks may not be detected. It, however, refused to say what triggered warnings received by opposition leaders.
Raising the issue at a press conference here, Rahul Gandhi attacked the Modi government. “We are not scared. You can do as much (phone) tapping as you want, I don’t care. If you want to take my phone, I will give it to you..,” he said.
“The hierarchy in the country is: No. 1 – Adani, No. 2 Prime Minister Narendra Modi and No. 3 Amit Shah… Narendra Modi’s soul is with Adani. The truth is that power is in the hands of someone else. As soon as Adani is touched, intelligence agencies snooping are deployed,” he said.
Moitra said on X she is writing officially to Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla requesting that he follows “Raj Dharma” to protect Opposition MPs and urged him to summon Home Ministry officials on the phones and emails being hacked.
She also said the issue should be taken up by Privileges Committee.
In his letter to PM Modi, Yechury expressed apprehension that remote access to his mobile phone maybe used for “planting” information on his device which could be used to “incriminate” him. Chaturvedi in her letter to PM sought prompt action into the matter.
IT minister Vaishnaw rejected the opposition’s attack on the government, saying the “compulsive critics” were indulging in the politics of “distraction” as they could not tolerate the country’s progress under the PM’s leadership.
He, however, assured the government “will investigate to get to the bottom of these notifications”.
“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,” the minister said in a post on X.
Speaking to media in Bhopal, he said it will be a very “technical kind of investigation”, and will be taken up by Cert-In, the national nodal agency for responding to computer security incidents.
“This requires a technical domain. Therefore, a technically qualified agency like Cert-In, which has global collaboration with all the major experts of the world. They (Cert-In) will be investigating and will be taking help from all other law enforcement agencies as and when required,” the minister said.
MoS IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said similar “threat notifications” were sent to people in over 150 countries by Apple.
“Our government is committed and duty bound to protect privacy of our citizens and we take this responsibility very seriously. Government will investigate these threat notifications and also apples claims of being secure and privacy compliant devices,” he posted on X.
Opposition leaders accused the government of attacking democracy. “Glad to keep underemployed officials busy at the expenses of taxpayers like me! Nothing more important to do?” Tharoor said.
At an event in Lucknow, Akhilesh Yadav said, “It is a matter of regret that in a democracy, freedom and privacy is being harmed.”
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti alleged that targeting AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal and TMC MP Moitra are signs of the BJP’s nervousness about the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. “Perhaps the BJP’s vicious communal propaganda won’t work anymore which is why they are throwing most opposition leaders behind bars on trumped up charges,” Mufti posted on X.
The Apple notification shared by the MPs stated, “ALERT: State-sponsored attackers may be targeting your iPhone”.
“Apple believes you are being targeted by state-sponsored attackers who are trying to remotely compromise the iPhone associated with your Apple ID. These attackers are likely targeting you individually because of who you are or what you do. 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 stated.
Some others who received similar alerts included think-tank ORF president Samir Saran, an OSD of Delhi chief minister Kejriwal, and The Wire’s founding editor Siddharth Varadarajan.
National Conference (NC) Vice President Omar Abdullah said these allegations have not come from the MPs but they have received a warning from Apple.
“There should be an investigation into it because earlier also, Israeli software Pegasus has been sold to this country and it was used in this country to snoop on people,” Abdullah told reporters in the Tangdhar area of Kupwara.
The former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir said Apple should share all the details and the facts after an investigation should be brought before the public.
“We want Apple to share all the details about it and after investigation, all the facts be brought before the public,” he said. (PTI)
