Union Electronics & Information Technology minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, hours after several opposition leaders received Apple alerts on their iPhones regarding 'state-sponsored attacks' on Tuesday, said in a presser that the government "will investigate to get to the bottom of these notifications".
Member of Parliaments (MP) Mahua Moitra, Priyanka Chaturvedi, Shashi Tharoor and Asaduddin Owaisi among others on Tuesday (October 31) shared screenshots sent to them by Apple in which the California-based company warned them about "state-sponsored attackers" targeting their iPhone.
Vaishnaw, tagging the opposition leaders as 'compulsive critics' for targeting the centre over apple notification, said, "They 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..."
"The government is concerned over the issue. We have already ordered an investigation and will get to the root of the issue," the minister said.
He also slammed the opposition saying, "These people can't see the development of the country because when their family was in power they only thought about themselves. Apple has issued this advisory in 150 countries..."
Referring to Apple's clarification after the alerts, Vaishnaw said, "From the mail sent by from Apple, it can be understood that they have no clear information, they have sent alerts on the basis of an estimate. This is vague. Apple has released a clarification that the allegations by compulsive critics are not true. Such advisories have been sent to people in 150 countries. The people who cannot see the growth of the country are doing destructive politics..."
What did Apple alert say?
Many leaders from various opposition parties received such alerts, who then took to social media to complain to the Home Ministry regarding the attempts to snoop their phones.
"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," read the message by Apple.
