Opposition leaders lash out at BJP on Apple's 'state-sponsored attack' notification: ‘Your fear makes me pity you’

The threat notification that several Opposition MPs received on their Apple IDs, has raised concerns about the violation of the privacy of leaders. Politicians like TMC's Mahua Moitra, Congress' Shashi Tharoor, Shiv Sena's (UBT) Priyanka Chaturvedi, received a message warning them of a possible ‘state-sponsored attack' on their Apple devices, aiming to compromise their personal information and details.

The list of recipients of Apple's threat notification is also includes high-profile journalists. Many of them are known for voicing their opinion against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government.

Also Read: 'May be false alarm': Apple says on Opposition leaders getting ‘state-sponsored attack' notification

Within hours after receiving the purported threat notification on their Apple IDs, politicians and journalists came down heavily on the BJP. Many termed the recent attempt to hack phones as another episode of the Pegasus spyware attack.

"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," wrote Mahua Moitra.

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‘Dear Modi Sarkar, why are you doing this?,’ tweeted Congress leader Pawan Khera.

“Was notified by Apple late last night that my iPhone linked to my Apple ID is being targeted … I have implemented the on-device remedial measures suggested by Apple and am reaching out to experts as well,” wrote Samir Saran, President of the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), on X.

Shive Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi also lashed out at the government after receiving the same message on her phone.

Apart from X posts, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi targeted the centre alleging it of distracting the attention of the youth. While addressing the media, he said that a number of people in his office received the message. He said that several Congress leaders including KC Venugopal, Supriya Shrinate, Pawan Khera,  also received this alert.

Soon after the message was received by several iPhone users, many of them opposition leaders and journalists, Apple issued a statement clarifying that the company 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 behavior to evade detection in the future,” said Apple in its statement.