NEW DELHI: Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government for attempting to hack senior opposition politicians’ mobile phones, after they started receiving warning messages from Apple, Western media reported on Tuesday.
Some of the parliamentarians shared screenshots of a notification on social media regarding the iPhone warnings.
In the messages Apple warned its users of being targeted by state-sponsored attackers who are trying to remotely compromise the iPhone attached with specific Apple IDs.
Gandhi at a news conference in New Delhi strongly condemned Modi for the act saying that the opposition will not stop questioning you.
Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw voiced concern at the lawmakers’ statements and said the government had asked Apple to become part of the investigation progress.
The company said it did not link the threat notifications to any specific state-sponsored hacker.
State-sponsored attacks increased over time
State-sponsored attacks have been increased over time. Detecting them depends on threat intelligence signals that are often incomplete.
Jairam Ramesh, spokesperson for Gandhi’s Congress Party, sought Apple’s clarification and long-winded non-denial of a security breach.
In 2021, it was reported that the Indian government had used Israeli-made Pegasus spyware to snoop on journalists, activists and politicians, including Gandhi. The government has refused to reply to questions whether India or any of its state agencies had procured Pegasus spyware.
