New Delhi [India], November 1 (ANI): TMC MP Mahua Moitra on Wednesday wrote a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on the alleged ‘hacking’ warning message received by opposition leaders, including her, on their Apple devices. This came a day after several opposition leaders of different political parties alleged that their Apple devices have been the victims of alleged hacking. The leaders shared the purported screenshots of the warning received on their Apple devices.
The TMC MP in her letter to Lok Sabha Speaker said that the illegal surveillance by the government using software available only to state actors is the worst attack on citizens’ fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution. “It is with great dismay that I write to inform you of a message that I and various other Members of the Lok Sabha (all belonging to Opposition parties) received from Apple on our mobile and email devices informing us that we were ‘being targeted by state-sponsored attackers’ who were attempting to remotely compromise our devices and access our data, communications, and even the camera and microphone,” she said in the letter.
“This threat is doubly shocking in light of the Pegasus software (sold only to governments) that was used to compromise the devices of various members of the Opposition, dissenting journalists and members of civil society during 2019-2021. Honourable Shri Abhishek Banerjee, MP, National General Secretary of the All India Trinamool Congress, the party I represent in Lok Sabha, was one of the targets. In spite of the Opposition raising this issue in the House, no debate was allowed and no conclusive report has been filed by any agency,” it added.
Moitra alleged that the past few years have seen the targeted attacks on the democratic freedoms of Members of the Opposition and voices of dissent. “These include misuse of central agencies and using majoritarian force to repeal, amend and create laws empowering the government to muzzle dissent. Numerous cases of planting fabricated evidence on communication devices have come to light and innocent citizens have been framed to meet political ends,” she said.
“You, sir, are the proverbial keeper of the faith, the guardian of the Lok Sabha and the ultimate parent to each of its Members. It is in this capacity that I ask you to immediately provide us the protection required for us to continue doing our duties as a vibrant Opposition which is to question and hold to account the ruling dispensation. I trust you will treat this matter with the seriousness it deserves and seek, accountability from the concerned authorities into this flagrant breach of law, Constitutional freedoms, and our rights as Members of Parliament,” she added further.
Meanwhile, Apple on Tuesday, officially announced that it does not attribute the threat notifications to any specific state-sponsored attacker.
“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. It’s possible that some Apple threat notifications may be false alarms, or that some attacks are not detected,” Apple said in a statement.
The tech giant further said that they are unable to provide information about what causes them to issue threat notifications, as that may help state-sponsored attackers adapt their behaviour to evade detection in the future.
Minister for Communications, Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday said the government has asked Apple to join the investigation with “accurate information on the alleged state-sponsored attacks”. “The Government of Bharat takes its role of protecting the privacy and security of all citizens very seriously and will investigate to get to the bottom of these notifications. In light of such information and widespread speculation, we have also asked Apple to join the investigation with real, accurate information on the alleged state-sponsored attacks,” Vaishnaw posted on X. (ANI)
