Several Indian politicians and journalists have received alerts from American tech giant Apple, warning that their iPhones have been targeted by state-sponsored attackers.
Threat Notifications Received
If a state-sponsored attacker compromises a person’s device, they may be able to remotely access their sensitive data, communications, microphone, and even the camera.
The notification said, “Apple believes you are being targeted by state-sponsored attackers who are trying to remotely compromise the iPhone associated with your Apple ID.”
Received text & email from Apple warning me Govt trying to hack into my phone & email. @HMOIndia - get a life. Adani & PMO bullies - your fear makes me pity you. @priyankac19 - you, I , & 3 other INDIAns have got it so far . pic.twitter.com/2dPgv14xC0
— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) October 31, 2023
It mentioned, “These attackers are likely targeting you individually because of who you are or what you do.”
Apple ended the notification with the sentence, “While it’s possible this is a false alarm, please take this warning seriously.”
As per reports, Trinamool Congress (TMC) Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, Congress Working Committee member Pawan Khera, Congress’ social media in-charge Supriya Shrinate, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, Chhattisgarh Deputy CM TS Singhdeo, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury, and Aam Aadmi Party leader Raghav Chadha are the politicians who have been targeted.
The Wire founding editor Siddharth Varadarajan, Observer Research Foundation President Samir Saran, Deccan Chronicle resident editor Sriram Karri, and independent journalist Revathi also received similar warnings.
Apple’s Clarification
After the news went viral, opposition MPs questioned the role of the Indian government.
In its clarification regarding the alerts, Apple said it “does not attribute the threat notifications to any specific state-sponsored attacker.”
The company further clarified that it had sent threat notifications to individuals with accounts in nearly 150 countries.
“State-sponsored attackers are very well-funded and sophisticated, and their attacks evolve over time,” the company added. It said that detecting such attacks relies on “threat intelligence signals that are often imperfect and incomplete.”
The company mentioned that it could not provide information about the cause behind the decision to issue threat notifications as it would help the state-sponsored attackers evade detection in the future.
On whether the Indian government was behind the attacks, an Apple spokesperson told The Hindu that the attacks were not attributable to “any specific state-sponsored actor.”
State Sponsored Attacks
As per an Apple document, threat notifications are sent to inform and assist users targeted by state-sponsored attacks.
Such attacks apply exceptional resources to target a very small number of specific individuals and their devices, making these attacks much harder to detect and prevent.
In July 2021, 17 media organisations in an investigation with Amnesty International, showed that India had used the Pegasus spyware for unauthorised surveillance on journalists, activists, and politicians.
The spyware linked to Israel’s cyber intelligence company NSO group is licensed to several governments worldwide.
The Indian government refuted the allegations that it had bought the spyware in 2017 as a part of the weapons deal with Israel.
Indian Government Response
Responding to the latest incident, Union Minister of Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw confirmed that the central government had ordered a probe into the warning received by opposition lawmakers.
In an address to the press, Vaishnaw called the alerts vague and accused those raising the issue to be engaging in “distraction politics.”
The Union Minister said that people who cannot see the country’s growth are doing destructive politics and the allegations made by the compulsive critics are not true.
#WATCH | On Apple's 'state-sponsored attack' message to some Opposition members, Union Minister for Communications, Electronics & Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw says, "The government is concerned about this issue and it will go to the bottom of it. There are some… pic.twitter.com/32B3DYYheX
— ANI (@ANI) October 31, 2023
The Indian government has asked Apple to join the investigation with real, accurate information on the alleged state sponsored attacks.
Vaishnaw said, “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.”