New Delhi: Hours after several political leaders claimed they received messages that there were attempts of 'state sponsored' hacking of their iPhones, the Central government Tuesday said it has asked Apple to join the investigation with "real" and "accurate information".
Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Electronics & Information Technology Minister, in a series of posts on X, formerly Twitter, called the politicians' claim "widespread speculation" but said the "government of Bharat" took its role of protecting privacy very seriously.
"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," Vaishnaw wrote in one of the five posts he made on the latest issue.
"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," he added in another post.
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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. (5/5)
— Ashwini Vaishnaw (@AshwiniVaishnaw) October 31, 2023 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
">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. (5/5)
— Ashwini Vaishnaw (@AshwiniVaishnaw) October 31, 2023In 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. (5/5)
— Ashwini Vaishnaw (@AshwiniVaishnaw) October 31, 2023
Here is the thread of posts by the minister: We are concerned by the statements we have seen in media from some MPs as well as others about a notification received by them from Apple. The notification received by them as per media reports mentions about ‘state-sponsored attacks’ on their devices. However much of information by Apple on this issue seems vague and non-specific in nature. Apple states these notifications maybe based on information which is ‘incomplete or imperfect’. It also states that some Apple threat notifications maybe false alarms or some attacks are not detected.
Apple has also claimed that Apple IDs are securely encrypted on devices, making it extremely difficult to access or identify them without the user's explicit permission. This encryption safeguards the user's Apple ID and ensures that it remains private and protected.
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. 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.
While briefing the press, the minister claimed that the allegations put by the opposition on the government are falsehood that some compulsive critics are trying to spread.
"Whenever these compulsive critics do not have any major issue, the only thing they say is surveillance. They tried this a few years back as well, we conducted a proper investigation, and the matter was supervised by the judiciary also but nothing came out of that including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra who said that her two children's phones were hacked but nothing of that sort happened. This is a falsehood that some compulsive critics are trying to spread," he said.
Just before Ashwini's posts on X, Apple issued a statement in which it said it does not attribute threat notifications, such as the ones received by some MPs belonging to Opposition parties, to any specific state-sponsored attackers and that it cannot provide information on what causes such warnings.
On Tuesday morning, several opposition leaders claimed to have received messages from Apple warning them of "state-sponsored attackers trying to remotely compromise" their iPhones and posted the purported screenshots on their X handles. They included TMC MP Mahua Moitra, AIMIM Chief Asadduddin Owaisi, AAP MP Raghav Chadha, Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi, Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor and Pawan Khera.
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