Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Oct 31: The government on Tuesday played down “surveillance” claims after at least seven Opposition Members of Parliament charged the government with spying showing the messages they have received in the form of warning from Apple that “State-sponsored attackers may be targeting” their iPhones.
The Union Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said Apple had issued such notifications in 150 countries, that these were “based on often imperfect, incomplete” data, and that some may be “false alarms.” However, the company said this claim was not limited to this last week, and is for the entire period since Apple first started issuing these alerts.
Mr Vaishnaw also said the government “takes its role of protecting privacy and security of all citizens very seriously”, and that a detailed investigation had been ordered. “… (we) will investigate to get to the bottom of these notifications… we have also asked Apple to join the investigation with real, accurate information on the alleged state-sponsored attacks.”
The IT Minister said the alerts “seem non-specific” and added, “Apple claims IDs are securely encrypted on devices… making it extremely difficult to access them without the user’s explicit permission. This encryption safeguards the user’s ID…”
Shiv Sena (Uddhav faction) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, Trinamool Congress’ Mahua Moitra, Congress’ Pawan Khera and Shashi Tharoor, CPI(M) Sitaram Yechury, AAP’s Raghav Chadha and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi are among those who shared the alert sent by Apple on X. Ms Moitra claimed Akhilesh Yadav has also received such warning, but the Samajwadi Party chief has not yet confirmed the same.
The novelist and newspaper editor Sriram Karri also said he received a similar email on his iPhone being targeted by state-sponsored attackers. Samir Saran, president of the thinktank Observer Research Foundation also shared the alert received by him.
“ALERT: State-sponsored attackers may be targeting your iPhone,” the message received by MPs from “threat-notifications@apple.com” said. “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,” the message read.
In a clarification regarding these alerts, the company later said: “Apple does not attribute the threat notifications to any specific state-sponsored attacker.” “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. 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 said in a statement, adding that Apple has sent Threat Notifications to individuals whose accounts are in nearly 150 countries.
Mr Vaishnaw also attacked some of the opposition members for raising “false alarms” and an accusing finger against the BJP government. Calling the Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi and Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra “compulsive critics” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “These (critics) are doing destructive politics… when they don’t have a major issue, raise surveillance. They want to distract people from progress under leadership of PM Modi.
“They tried this a few years ago as well,” he said, referring to the controversial Israeli spy software Pegasus spyware scandal. “We conducted an investigation, supervised by the judiciary, but nothing came of it. This is a falsehood some are trying to spread,” he said.
Sources said the government would write to Apple about use of the term “state-sponsored” attackers, and junior IT Minister, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, has asked it three questions.
An Apple spokesperson said they were not specifically saying the Indian government was responsible, though they did not rule this out, saying that they weren’t attributing these alerts “to any specific state-sponsored attacker.” It is yet unclear if Apple executives in India were aware that these alerts were going out in advance.
Apple did not respond to queries on whether the Indian government asked them about these alerts, or if they would provide more information on how they detected these hacking attempts if asked.
Mr Vaishnaw told reporters in Bhopal that the government had launched an investigation into the alerts. “I would like to clearly say that the Government is very concerned on this issue, and that we will get to the bottom of this,” Mr. Vaishnaw said. “This country has compulsive critics who wake up everyday to criticise the Government on any given issue. These people cannot stand seeing this country’s progress.”
The MPs have been vocal in their criticism against the Union government. Ms Moitra has questioned the alleged nexus of Modi government with businessman Gautam Adani. Response from the Union Home Ministry is awaited.
“Received text & email from Apple warning me Govt trying to hack into my phone & email. @HMOIndia – get a life. Adani & PMO bullies – your fear makes me pity you. @priyankac19 – you, I , & 3 other INDIAns have got it so far,” Ms Moitra alleged sharing the screenshot of the message.
“Dear Modi Sarkar, why are you doing this?,” posted Mr Khera. “Wonder who? Shame on you. Cc: @HMOIndia for your kind attention,” Ms Chaturvedi said sharing the screenshot. Shashi Tharoor wrote: “Received from an Apple ID, threat-notifications@apple.com, which I have verified. Authenticity confirmed. Glad to keep underemployed officials busy at the expenses of taxpayers like me! Nothing more important to do?”
Responding to the opposition leaders, BJP’s Amit Malviya said in a post on X, “Usual suspects raising a storm over ‘state-sponsored’ attack and pretending to be martyrs is all good… But this hullabaloo, in all probability, like in the past, will end up as damp squib! “Why not wait for Apple to clarify? Or is it too much to let go an opportunity to outrage?”
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi linked it with their fight against the Adani group and alleged “Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s soul lies with [Gautam] Adani.” “Earlier, I used to think that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was most powerful, followed by Adani and Amit Shah. But now, it is Adani, followed by Mr. Modi and Mr. Shah,” he said.
“We are not going to be scared and will keep raising our voice,” Mr Gandhi asserted. “If you want my phone, take it,” he said, adding: “The moment we touch Adani, CBI, ED, snooping starts.” The Congress leader said “we are not going to be scared and will keep raising our voice.”
According to an Apple support document published on its website on August 22, 2023, “Apple threat notifications are designed to inform and assist users who may have been targeted by state-sponsored attackers. These users are individually targeted because of who they are or what they do.” “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,” the document adds.
The Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar brushed off Opposition concerns about iPhone hacking and said “It is the election season and people will pull all sorts of things from a hat.” Apple has to respond to the government’s questions, he said.
“Many people have got this notification in many countries. This is the question that Apple should answer. If this is something real, Apple should explain,” Mr Chandrasekhar said. “Apple has to answer a number of questions about these devices they claim are secure,” he said.
Apple, he said, should explain what the notification means. Either their platform is compromised or that the platform is secure and the notification sent is unreliable. “Either way, they have to explain. Investigation will explain where it is compromised,” he added. “The verbiage that notification implies that there are state actors. They should explain who are these state actors,” he said. But the government, he added, has no say on this process.
But the tech giant said they were unable to provide information about what causes them to issue threat notifications, as that may help state-sponsored attackers adapt their behaviour to evade detection in the future.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh took to X on the clarification from Apple and said “Apple’s clarification is a long-winded non-denial… it only confirms what Rahul Gandhi said in his press conference today.”
