In touch with apple about data hacks: MoS MeitY Jitin Prasad tells RS

New Delhi: Minister of state (MoS), ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY), Jitin Prasad, told the Rajya Sabha on Friday that the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) is in touch with the Apple company to resolve the issue of alleged state-sponsored hacking that was raised by opposition leaders last year.

In October-November 2023, several opposition leaders claimed that they received threats on their mobile phones from iPhone maker Apple Inc., warning them of a potential state-sponsored cyber attack.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, Trinamool Congress’ Mahua Moitra, Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Raghav Chadha, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi, Congress’ Shashi Tharoor and his party’s media and publicity department head Pawan Khera were among those who flagged the message from Apple in 2023.

Prasad was responding to a question from AAP’s Raghav Chaddha over state-sponsored hacking in the Upper House today. 

“The opposition leaders are victims of state-sponsored spyware attacks, whereby our mobile phones notified us that a cyber attack that was aimed towards infiltrating our mobile phone devices has been carried out by the state,” Chadda said and questioned whether the government has taken cognisance of the matter.

He further asked for a list of people who were victims of such attacks and demanded clarification on the action that had been taken in this matter. 

Prasad responded by saying that there is no such thing as state-sponsored hacking. Addressing the Apple state-sponsored hacking issue that was raised by some opposition leaders in October 2023, the MoS said, “We are in touch with Apple and also in the process of getting information about the source of their information, that led them to arrive at a conclusion and send out alerts to opposition leaders. We are trying to acquire the data and its source. Once we get that, our agencies will act on it.”