New Delhi: Apple’s cautionary alerts issued in October to Indian opposition figures regarding potential government-backed hacking of their phones have reportedly led to swift actions by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration. According to a report by the Washington Post, the Indian government urged Apple to tone down its warnings, seeking to mitigate the political repercussions.
Unnamed sources cited by the newspaper revealed that representatives of Apple in India were contacted by government officials, instructing the company to downplay the impact of the security warnings. Additionally, an Apple security expert, brought in from outside the country, was reportedly convened for a meeting in New Delhi. During the meeting, the expert was allegedly pressured to provide alternative explanations for the alerts.
Unnamed sources cited by the newspaper revealed that representatives of Apple in India were contacted by government officials, instructing the company to downplay the impact of the security warnings. Additionally, an Apple security expert, brought in from outside the country, was reportedly convened for a meeting in New Delhi. During the meeting, the expert was allegedly pressured to provide alternative explanations for the alerts.
In the midst of these allegations, some lawmakers shared screenshots on social media depicting notifications from Apple stating, “Apple believes you are being targeted by state-sponsored attackers who are trying to remotely compromise the iPhone associated with your Apple ID.”
It is worth noting that Apple has previously clarified that it did not attribute the threat notifications to “any specific state-sponsored attacker.”
