Modi Govt Urges Apple To Tone Down iPhone 'Hack' Alerts, Seeks To Mitigate Political Repercussions: Report

Sources cited by the Washington Post claimed that government officials contacted representatives of Apple in India.

Apple has previously clarified that it did not attribute the threat notifications to "any specific state-sponsored attacker." ( Image Source :Getty )

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.

The Indian opposition has accused Prime Minister Modi's administration of attempting to hack the phones of senior opposition figures who claimed to have received cautionary messages from Apple.

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."

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in October said that several leaders of the opposition parties received "state-sponsored attackers could be targeting your device" alert on their iPhone devices and added that snooping was being done as soon as "Adani" was touched. He said that party leaders like K C Venugopal, Pawan Khera, and several other opposition members got the alert on their devices.

"As soon as Adani is touched, intelligence agencies, snooping are deployed," Gandhi said, adding that the businessman is at the top and is followed by PM Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.