IT Minister Vaishnaw Confirms India is Investigating Allegations of iPhone Hacking by Opposition Politicians

(Correct minister’s first name in first paragraph to Ashwin)

NEW DELHI: India’s cyber security agency is investigating complaints of mobile phone hacking by senior opposition politicians who said they received warning messages from Apple, Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said.

Vaishnaw was quoted in the Indian Express newspaper on Thursday as saying that New Delhi-based computer emergency group CERT-In had launched an investigation, adding that “Apple confirmed that it has received a notification for investigation.”

Vaishnaw’s political aide and two federal home ministry officials told Reuters that any cybersecurity concerns raised by politicians are being investigated.

Apple did not immediately comment on the investigations.

This week, India’s opposition leader Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government of trying to hack the cellphones of opposition politicians after some lawmakers shared on social media screenshots of an ad in which the iPhone maker said: “Apple believes you have been exposed to state-sponsored attackers who are attempting to remotely hack into an iPhone associated with an Apple ID.”

A senior minister in the Modi government also said he received the same notification on his phone.

Apple said it does not attribute the threat notifications to “any specific state-sponsored attacker,” adding that “some threat notifications from Apple may be false alarms or that some attacks may not be detected.”

In 2021, India was rocked by reports that the government had used the Israeli-made Pegasus spy program to snoop on scores of journalists, activists and politicians, including Gandhi.

The government has refused to answer questions about whether India or any of its government agencies had purchased the Pegasus spyware for surveillance.

(This story has been corrected to read the minister’s first name as Ashwini in paragraph 1)