Apple threat 'alerts' ::: IT Minister Vaishnaw says Govt will probe, Apple co. directed to supply ‘real, accurate’ information

“We too have spoken to cyber experts. There are a few countries that have enmity against India and are experts in spying of this kind. I would like to say that malware, phishing and spyware come on your phone when an individual accesses such websites and even watch wrong content," BJP leader Gaurav Bhatia said in response to Opposition leaders claim that they received a message saying "state-sponsored attackers" may be targeting their Apple iPhones.   

IT ministry said much of the information provided by Apple on the issue seems “vague and non-specific in nature”, and urged the iPhone maker to join the probe with more accurate information about the alleged spyware attack.

“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,” IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter).   

"Some MPs have made allegations that they got alerts from Apple. I want to say clearly that the government is concerned about this issue. Apple has sent the alert notifications to people in around 150 countries. Apple has issued a clarification and that no one can hack into their phones," he said.

Vaishnaw slammed the MPs for raising such allegations, asserting that people were involved in such politics as they did not want to see the country progress.

Earlier today, Opposition leaders, including Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra, Aam Aadmi Party's Raghav Chadha, and Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor and Pawan Khera reported receiving messages from Apple on Tuesday, cautioning them about "state-sponsored attackers attempting remote compromises" on their iPhones.

They also shared screenshots of these warnings on their social media platforms.

IT Minister Vaishnaw 

APPLE'S RESPONSE

Apple threat notifications are a system designed by Apple to alert users who may be targeted by state-sponsored attackers. These users, who receive the notifications via iMessage, are individually targeted because of who they are or what they do, according to Apple on their support page.

"Unlike traditional cybercriminals, state-sponsored attackers apply exceptional resources to target a very small number of specific individuals and their devices, which makes these attacks much harder to detect and prevent. State-sponsored attacks are highly complex, cost millions of dollars to develop, and often have a short shelf life. The vast majority of users will never be targeted by such attacks," Apple said.

Threat notifications have been sent to the iPhones of individuals in nearly 150 countries.

"State-sponsored attackers are very well-funded and sophisticated and their attacks evolve over time. Detecting such attacks relies on threat intelligence signals that are often imperfect and incomplete. It’s possible that some Apple threat notifications may be false alarms, or that some attacks are not detected," it added.

"We are unable to provide information about what causes us to issue threat notifications, as that may help state-sponsored attackers adapt their behaviour to evade detection in the future," it further said.