A notification warning Opposition leaders of a “state-sponsored attack” could have been a false alarm, tech giant Apple said on October 31.
“It’s possible that some Apple threat notifications may be false alarms, or that some attacks are not detected,” the company said in a statement, hours after some of the politicians using its flagship iPhones were warned of a potential bid to compromise their devices.
The US-headquartered gadget maker clarified 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,” Apple added.
Also Read: Opposition leaders get emails about potential bid to compromise their iPhones
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“We are unable to provide information about what causes us to issue threat notifications, as that may help state-sponsored attackers adapt their behaviour to evade detection in the future,” the statement further noted.
Notably, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, Trinamool Congress’ Mahua Moitra, Aam Aadmi Party’s Raghav Chadha, Congress’ Shashi Tharoor and his party’s media and publicity department head Pawan Khera had shared the message received from Apple earlier in the day. The missive warned them of a possible hacking attempt by state-sponsored attackers.
“Apple believes you are being targeted by state-sponsored attackers who are trying to remotely compromise the iPhone associated with your Apple ID. These attackers are likely targeting you individually because of who you are or what you do. If your device is compromised by a state-sponsored attacker, they may be able to remotely access your sensitive data, communications, or even the camera and microphone. While it’s possible this is a false alarm, please take this warning seriously,” the message shared by the politicians stated.
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Updated: 31 Oct 2023, 02:47 PM IST