Apple Warns Shashi Tharoor, Mahua Moitra, Other Prominent Indians of State-Sponsored Threats: What’s Going On?،
As the 2024 general elections approach, several prominent Indians are receiving threat notifications from Apple, informing them of targeting “state-sponsored attackers”. Notable personalities who received the alert include Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor, Krishnagar Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra and Punjab Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha.
Apple Warns Indian Politicians Against State-Sponsored Hacking Threats: What You Need to Know
Earlier today, Mahua Moitra took to her official X account (formerly known as Twitter), stating that she received a text message and email from Cupertino-based tech giant Apple, the warning of how state-sponsored attackers “could” target his iPhone. The screenshot of the email she shared reads: “Apple believes you are the target of state-sponsored attackers who are attempting to remotely compromise the iPhone associated with your Apple ID.”
The email goes on to warn that if the attackers are successful, they will be able to access sensitive information, communications or even the camera and microphone.
However, Apple also states: “This may be a false alert, please take this warning seriously.” » In her tweet dated October 31, 2023 at 9:31 am IST, Moitra writes that she, Priyanka Chaturvedi and three other Indians received the notice from Apple.
Priyanka, meanwhile, shared several tweets condemning the situation, asking whether India’s Home Ministry would investigate the matter.
At 11:06 AM IST, Shashi Tharoor took to his official Twitter account, sharing several screenshots of the email he received from Apple. Tharoor adds that he has verified the sender of these emails, namely “[email protected]”, to try to determine whether the email is genuine or not.
At 11:38 am IST, Raghav Chadha took to his official X account, saying he received a “notification regarding Apple.”
Observer Research Foundation President Samir Saran also received a threat notification from Apple earlier today.
What do iPhone threat notifications mean?
According to an Apple support page, threat notifications are designed “to inform and assist users who may have been targeted by state-sponsored attackers.” The iPhone maker says state-sponsored attackers use exceptional resources to target a small number of influential or politically important individuals and their devices, often making these attacks difficult to detect.
Additionally, Apple clarifies that its threat notifications never ask users to click on links, open files, or install applications. To check if a threat notification is genuine, users can log in to appleid.apple.com and check if their account reflects the same warning.
To protect themselves against cybercriminals, users should update their iPhone to the latest available software, which includes multiple security patches, protect their devices with a healthy password, use two-factor authentication for Apple ID and never click on links or attachments sent from strangers. sources. Users should also consider enabling lock mode.
It is important to mention that being state-sponsored does not necessarily mean that the threat notifications have anything to do with the Indian government, as the policy has already started on social platforms. We are awaiting a response from the relevant Indian authorities, after which we will provide an update.
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