Apple sends iPhone threat alerts to India opposition politicians

Posted:
in iPhone

Apple has sent notifications to members of India's opposition politicians, warning that "state-sponsored attackers" could be targeting their iPhones.

Mumbai, India
Mumbai, India
Since 2021

, Apple has been alerting iPhone users to suspected "state-sponsored spyware attacks." According to India's Economic Times, the company Economic Times">has now sent out such alerts to an unknown number of users in India, including politicians.

Subsequently, Apple has said that some such threat notifications may be false alarms.

"Detecting such attacks relies on threat intelligence signals that are often imperfect and incomplete," the company told the publication. "It's possible that some Apple threat notifications may be false alarms, or that some attacks are not detected."

Was notified by Apple late last night that my iPhone linked to my Apple ID is being targeted I have implemented the on-device remedial measures suggested by Apple and am reaching out to experts as well . pic.twitter.com/x9KbvcV1ez

-- Samir Saran (@samirsaran)



Nonetheless, according to Reuters, Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government of trying to hack into the iPhones of senior opposition politicians.

"Hack us all you want," Gandhi told press, referring to Modi's government. "But we will not stop questioning you."

Apple followed up its comment about potential false alarms with a statement that said the company could not attribute the cause of the alerts to "any specific state-sponsored attacker."

Speaking on behalf of Ghandhi's party, spokesperson Jairam Ramesh said that Apple's response was a "long-winded non-denial."

Separately, Apple CEO Tim Cook has now met with Prime Minister Modi several times to discuss Apple's future in the country.

Read on AppleInsider

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 5
    I, generally, keep myself away from commenting on such issues. But, if Gandhi is telling this, then please ignore. 

    I wish I could comment more. But, just ignore Gandhi.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 5
    Coming soon: India passes a law preventing such notifications.  Apple will, of course, comply and cease warning people of potential threats.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 5
    dk49dk49 Posts: 267member
    How does Apple know about it? Is Apple monitoring our iPhones constantly? Or maybe it's just some built in mechanism to detect known threats?
    edited October 2023 watto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 5
    bonobobbonobob Posts: 383member
    I, generally, keep myself away from commenting on such issues. But, if Gandhi is telling this, then please ignore. 

    I wish I could comment more. But, just ignore Gandhi.
    I think it would be more appropriate to ignore the Narendra Modi shill instead.
    muthuk_vanalingamwatto_cobraelijahgmichelb76
  • Reply 5 of 5
    mknelsonmknelson Posts: 1,127member
    dk49 said:
    How does Apple know about it? Is Apple monitoring our iPhones constantly? Or maybe it's just some built in mechanism to detect known threats?
    They don't discuss the how/why (could be reports from intelligence agencies, or suspicious login attempts) but this article explains a bit more: https://support.apple.com/en-ca/102174
    watto_cobraFileMakerFeller
Sign In or Register to comment.