Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday said that the central government was concerned about the 'state-sponsored attack' message received by some Opposition members on their Apple phones and that it will go to the bottom of it. "The government is concerned about this issue and it will go to the bottom of it." Vaishnaw, however, said that Apple has issued this advisory in 150 countries but the probe has been ordered.
"We are concerned by the statements we have seen in media from some MPs as well as others about a notification received by them from Apple. The notification received by them as per media reports mentions ‘state-sponsored attacks’ on their devices," the minister said.
However, he said, much of the information by Apple on this issue seemed vague and non-specific in nature. "Apple states these notifications may be based on information which is ‘incomplete or imperfect’. It also states that some Apple threat notifications may be false alarms or some attacks are not detected."
The minister said Apple has also claimed that Apple IDs are securely encrypted on devices, making it extremely difficult to access or identify them without the user's explicit permission. "This encryption safeguards the user's Apple ID and ensures that it remains private and protected."
"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," Vaishnaw said in a series of tweets.
Earlier today, some opposition leaders flagged that they had received messages on their Apple phones cautioning them about "state-sponsored attackers attempting remote compromises" on their iPhones.
The opposition leaders suggested that the central government may be attempting to hack their phones. IN a tweet, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said: "Received from an Apple ID, threat-notifications@apple.com, which I have verified. Authenticity confirmed. Glad to keep underemployed officials busy at the expense of taxpayers like me! Nothing more important to do?"
Apple, however, later said it was possible that some threat notifications may be false alarms, or that some attacks were 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 behavior to evade detection in the future." The iPhone maker said that '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."
MoS IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that after today's 'threat notifications', Apple needs to clarify if its devices are secure and why these alerts are sent to people in over 150 countries because the phone maker has repeatedly claimed their products are designed for privacy. "Our govt is committed and duty bound to protect the privacy of our citizens and we take this responsibility very seriously," he said, adding that the government will investigate these threats.