Apple has decided to dispatch its technical and cybersecurity experts to India. The move comes in response to the uproar caused when several prominent politicians, including Mahua Moitra, Priyanka Chaturvedi, Shashi Tharoor, and Raghav Chadha, received alerts stating that their devices were under the scrutiny of state-sponsored attackers.
Since late 2021, Apple has been actively issuing such notifications globally, covering individuals in 150 countries. The alerts, triggered by suspicions of state-sponsored cyberattacks, advise recipients on protective measures, including activating the ‘Lockdown Mode’ feature on their iPhones.
Political Fallout and Government Response
The notifications set off a political firestorm, with the opposition accusing the government of espionage. In response, the government initiated an investigation led by the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In). Amidst the tensions, Apple denied attributing the threat notifications to any specific state-sponsored attacker.
While Apple’s representatives in India have engaged with government officials, the technical experts’ visit faced delays due to visa issues. Government sources assure that these issues have been resolved, and the experts’ visit is imminent.
Insights into the Investigation
A government official, speaking anonymously to Moneycontrol, shed light on the ongoing probe, suggesting that a vulnerability in Apple’s systems exposed citizens worldwide to potential virus threats. The official emphasized the need to discern between blaming state actors and addressing inherent system vulnerabilities.
Apple’s Clarification Amidst Uncertainty
In the midst of the controversy, Apple released a statement acknowledging the possibility of false alarms in threat notifications. The tech giant clarified that it does not attribute these notifications to specific state-sponsored attackers. Apple emphasized the complexity of detecting sophisticated attacks, citing imperfect and incomplete threat intelligence signals.
