Apple has cautioned several Indian opposition leaders and journalists that their iPhones might have been targeted by “state-sponsored attackers.”
A number of political opposition figures in India received notifications from Apple on Tuesday, warning them that their phones could potentially be under threat from “state-sponsored attackers.”
Mahua Moitra, a member of the Lok Sabha, the lower house in the Parliament of India, and a vocal critic of industrialist Gautam Adani’s connections to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, posted her alert on social media, attributing the attempts to hack her phone to the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Shashi Tharoor, another opposition Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha, also received an alert from Apple advising him to update his iPhone to the latest software version and enable Lockdown Mode, a feature designed to protect against advanced spyware.
The alert stated, “We are unable to provide more information about what prompted us to send you this notification, as that might assist state-sponsored attackers in adapting their tactics to avoid detection in the future.”
Other opposition figures who were targeted include Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Chaturvedi, and Raghav Chadha, as well as several staff members associated with parties opposing India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Chadha expressed concern, saying, “I use my smartphone for my parliamentary duties, engaging with constituents, addressing requests, and questioning the autocratic practices of the Central Government. This surveillance is occurring as we approach a General Election, and it should be seen in the context of ongoing attacks on the opposition, including relentless scrutiny by investigative agencies, politically motivated legal cases, and imprisonment.”
The Ministry of Home Affairs did not respond to Moitra’s allegation when contacted by Recorded Future News.
India Today, citing anonymous government sources, claimed that the alerts from Apple were triggered by an “algorithm malfunction” and that a government statement would be released soon.
Apple did not confirm or dispute this claim when contacted by Recorded Future News. In a statement reported by Indian media, the tech company stated, “Apple does not attribute the threat notifications to any specific state-sponsored attacker.”
While the Indian government has not issued an official statement, the BJP told the Economic Times that allegations of government involvement in the attacks were “baseless and false.”
Amit Malviya, the head of information and technology for India’s ruling BJP party, dismissed the complaints in a social media post, saying, “The usual suspects making a fuss over ‘state-sponsored’ attacks and portraying themselves as martyrs is expected… But this uproar, in all likelihood, will end up as a mere distraction, just as it has in the past!”
Journalists also on list of targets
Other opposition leaders who have reportedly received the threat notification include Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav, Congress stalwart KC Venugopal, and Nationalist Congress Party MP Supriya Sule.Some journalists have also been alerted on their iPhones, including The Wire‘s Founding Editor Siddharth Varadarajan, Deccan Chronicle‘s Resident Editor Sriram Karri, Observer Research Foundation’s President Samir Saran, and independent journalist Revathi.