As Opposition Cries Foul, Apple Says Can't Attribute Threat Notifications To Any Specific State Sponsored Attacker

Several opposition leaders have claimed that they received an alert from Apple, labelling it as a snooping attempt by the government.

New Delhi: Hours after the 'threat notifications' alerts flashed on iPhones of several Indian Opposition Party leaders, tech giant Apple has issued a statement saying that they cant attribute the threat notifications to any specific state sponsored attacker.

An Apple statement 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." 

Apple also added the possibility of some Apple threat notifications coming as false alarms.

" It’s possible that some Apple threat notifications may be false alarms, or that some attacks are not detected," Apple said.

The Cupertino headquartered tech giant aded, "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."

Notably, several opposition leaders including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, Trinamool Congress' Mahua Moitra, Aam Aadmi Party's Raghav Chadha, Congress' Shashi Tharoor and his party's media and publicity department head Pawan Khera shared the message from Apple on X. CPI(M)general secretary Sitaram Yechury also received a similar message.

The message shared by the MPs stated, "ALERT: State-sponsored attackers may be targeting your iPhone".

"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," it stated.