'It Is For Apple To Clarify, Charges Against Govt Baseless': BJP On 'Phone Hacking' Claim By Oppn Leaders

BJP's reaction comes as several Opposition leaders like Congress' Shashi Tharoor and SP's Akhilesh Yadav claimed they received an alert on 'state-sponsored attack' on their iPhones.

Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad addresses a press conference

Source : PTI

As several Opposition leaders like Congress' Shashi Tharoor, TMC's Mahua Moitra and SP's Akhilesh Yadav claimed they received an alert on "state-sponsored attack" on their iPhones, BJP washed its hands of the issue, saying it was for Apple to clarify the matter. Addressing a media briefing, BJP leader and former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad called the Opposition's allegations against the government as "baseless and false".

"It is for Apple to clarify. They should file an FIR if they have any problem. Who is stopping them?" PTI quoted Prasad as saying.

"Rahul Gandhi had earlier made claims about Pegasus but refused to deposit his iPhone before the Supreme Court-appointed committee," PTI quoted Prasad as saying.

Pegasus is a spyware developed by Israeli company NSO Group. In 2021, a media consortium had reported that over 300 Indian phone numbers were on the list of potential targets for surveillance using the Pegasus spyware.

Prasad, who had previously served as Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology, said telecom companies usually report such matters to CERT-In, the nodal agency to deal with cyber security threats.

BJP leader Amit Malviya also hit out at the Opposition leaders, saying this "hullabaloo" would end up as a samp squib.

Usual suspects raising a storm over ‘state sponsored’ attack and pretending to be martyrs is all good… But this hullabaloo, in all probability, like in the past, will end up as damp squib!

Why not wait for Apple to clarify? Or is it too much to let go an opportunity to outrage?

— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) October 31, 2023

"Usual suspects raising a storm over 'state sponsored' attack and pretending to be martyrs is all good… But this hullabaloo, in all probability, like in the past, will end up as damp squib! "Why not wait for Apple to clarify? Or is it too much to let go an opportunity to outrage?" Malviya said in a post on X.

Tharoor, Raghav Chadha Among Oppn Leaders To Receive Apple Warning

BJP's reaction came as several Opposition leaders took to X and posted screenshots of the alert they received from Apple warning them of "state-sponsored attackers trying to remotely compromise" their iPhones. Apart from Tharoor, Moitra and Yadav, other leaders who claimed to have received such alerts were Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, Aam Aadmi Party's Raghav Chadha and Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera.

"@HMOIndia -- get a life. Adani and PMO bullies - your fear makes me pity you," Moitra tweeted. "Will @HMOIndia investigate?"  Congress MP Tharoor said.

Chadha, while sharing the screenshot of the alert, called it an attack on the "democratic interests" of the country.

In a long post on X, the AAP MP said, "...not only my smartphone but the democratic interests of our country have come under attack. This notification is reminiscent of the Pegasus spyware scandal which also had targeted many voices that are critical of the BJP. Even in this attack, I am not the only opposition leader who has been attacked. Multiple voices of the opposition have been targeted."

Here Is What Apple Said On The Issue

In a statement, Apple said the threat notifications can't be attributed to any specific state-sponsored attacker, PTI reported.

"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," Apple said.

"We are unable to provide information about what causes us to issue threat notifications, as that may help state-sponsored attackers adapt their behavior to evade detection in the future," the iPhone maker further said.