Centre has pressured Apple in India to soften its message about potential hacking attempts on iPhones, a Washington Post report said recently. The move comes after several Opposition leaders and some journalists in October claimed that they had received emails from Apple warning them that state-sponsored attackers were potentially remotely trying to compromise the iPhones associated with their IDs.
The Washington Post report said, citing three unidentified sources, that Apple’s India representatives were called by administration officials who demanded that the company help weaken the political impact of the warnings
An Apple security expert was also summoned from outside the country to a meeting in New Delhi and the expert was pressed to come up with alternative explanations for the warnings, it said.
Meanwhile, a Reuters report cited Apple and India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
INDIA members share screenshots of Apple warnings
On 31 October, several members of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) shared screenshots on social media of a notification quoting the iPhone manufacturer as saying: “Apple believes you are being targeted by state-sponsored attackers who are trying to remotely compromise the iPhone associated with your Apple ID”.
Apple has previously said it did not attribute the threat notifications to “any specific state-sponsored attacker”.
Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw voiced concern over Apple’s threat notifications but refuted Opposition claims of government involvement in compromising phones, addressing the issue.
“The government is concerned about this issue and it will get to the bottom of it. We have already ordered investigation into it,” Vaishnaw told a press conference.
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