Increased state sponsored attacks on the iPhones

Multiple top leaders of India’s opposition parties and several journalists have received alerts from the tech giant Apple, that their devices were being targeted by ‘state-sponsored attackers’; Whereas government calls snooping claims ‘vague’.

The notification from Apple, saying that “Apple believes you are being targeted by state-sponsored attackers who are trying to remotely compromise the iPhone associated with your Apple ID.

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.”

It urges the recipients, “While it’s possible this is a false alarm, please take this warning seriously.”

While the language of Apple’s warning is identical to what the phone manufacturer has used in the past to alert victims of spyware around the world, the fact that at least five persons in India received the same alert at the same time (11:45 pm on October 30, 2023) suggests those being targeted are part of an India-specific cluster.

Opposition leaders across parties — from Congress’s Shashi Tharoor to AAP’s Raghav Chadha to TMC’s Mahua Moitra — said Tuesday that they had received a “threat notification” from Apple, warning of a “potential state-sponsored spyware attack” on their iPhones. They hit out at the Centre, and suggested that it was behind the spyware attack attempt.

Apple later issued a statement saying it “does not attribute the threat notifications to any specific state-sponsored attacker”. Experts says, No phone, neither Android nor iOS, is 100% secured in the era of technology disruption. Both platforms have their own strengths and weaknesses, and both are vulnerable to attack.

These threat notifications were enabled by the company in 2021, and since then such notifications have reportedly been sent to individuals in nearly 150 countries.

Apple recommends that you immediately take these actions: - Update your iPhone to the latest software version, iOS 17.1, if you haven't already. We urge you to always update to the latest software as soon as it's available, as it contains the latest security protections.