Apple sent a warning to Indian politicians across the political spectrum, that their iPhones were being targeted by state sponsored attackers. On Tuesday morning, opposition leaders including Congress’ Shashi Tharoor, Aam Aadmi Party’s Raghav Chadha, and Trinamool Congress’ Mahua Moitra claimed that the received a “threat notification” from Apple, warning of a “potential state-sponsored spyware attack” on their iPhones.

While the exact number of politicians affected by this state sponsored breach is yet to be clearly established, and Apple has not specified which “State,” sponsored this attempt to breach these devices, a wide gamut of people, beyond opposition politicians claim that they received such an email by Apple. 

Congress leader, Rahul Gandhi alleged that not only had every leader of the Opposition received alerts that their devices were being targeting by state sponsored attackers, but staffers in his office also received similar notifications by Apple.

Deputy Leader of Shiv Sena and a Rajya Sabha MP, Priyanka Chaturvedi also claimed that she received such an alert from Apple. Chaturvedi has written a letter to the Prime Minister urging prompt action. Prominent journalists also claim that they received such an alert from Apple, including Ravi Nair (journalist at OCCRP, Sriram Karri (resident editor at Deccan Chronicle) and Anand Mangnale (regional editor, South Asia, OCCRP). 

Following the allegations, Apple issued a statement saying that it “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 p

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“Apple believes you are being targeted by State-sponsored attackers who are trying to remotely compromise the iPhone associated with your Apple ID,” the alleged Apple alert says. “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 the exact number of politicians affected by this state sponsored breach is yet to be clearly established, and Apple has not specified which “State,” sponsored this attempt to breach these devices, a wide gamut of people, beyond opposition politicians claim that they received such an email by Apple. 

receive alerts on their devices,

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