Several Opposition leaders of the INDIA alliance have claimed to have received warning messages from Apple. The messages contained a warning that said “state-sponsored attackers may be targeting” their iPhones.

The leaders, including Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi among others, confirmed having received these alerts from Apple.

The alert message read, “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.”

‘Government trying to hack our phones’

Mahua Moitra, who is currently stuck in a controversy involving cash-for-query allegations, criticised the Prime Minister’s Office and businessman Gautam Adani.

She referred to them as “bullies” and expressed her pity for their fear. Moitra took to social media platform X to voice her concerns, making it clear that she believes the government is attempting to hack her phone and email.

In her tweet, she alleged that other leaders from the opposition INDIA Bloc, including Pawan Khera and Shashi Tharoor, as well as leaders like Akhilesh Yadav, Raghav Chadha, Sitaram Yechury, and Rahul Gandhi’s office, also received the warnings from Apple.

To support her claims, she attached screenshots of the warning messages from Apple with the subject, “State-sponsored attackers may be targeting your iPhone.”

Reacting to the warning alerts sent from Apple’s “threat-notifications@apple.com,” Shashi Tharoor also posted on the social media platform X, saying, “Glad to keep underemployed officials busy at the expense of taxpayers like me! Nothing more important to do?”

Priyanka Chaturvedi, the Shiv Sena (UBT) MP, expressed her concerns by stating, “So not just me, but also @MahuaMoitra has received this warning from Apple. Will @HMOIndia investigate?”

Pawan Khera also raised a question about Modi Sarkar, saying, “Dear Modi Sarkar, why are you doing this?”

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, while addressing the media on the Apple warnings, said, “…Earlier, I used to think number 1 is PM Modi, number 2 is Adani and number 3 is Amit Shah, but this is wrong, number 1 is Adani, number 2 is PM Modi and number 3 is Amit Shah. We have understood the politics of India and now Adani ji cannot escape. Distraction politics is going on…”

“This is the work of criminals and thieves,” he added.

AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj also pointed out that “This is a serious matter. The central government should give a clarification on this. Earlier too, the current government at the Centre was accused of buying Pegasus software. Raghav Chadha ji has got a similar message on his phone. CM Kejriwal’s OSD has also got the same message.”

BJP’s response to Apple alerts

BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya, in response, criticised the Opposition leaders, suggesting that they should wait for clarification from Apple.

“Usual suspects raising a storm over ‘state-sponsored’ attacks and pretending to be martyrs is all good…But this hullabaloo, in all probability, like in the past, will end up as a damp squib! Why not wait for Apple to clarify? Or is it too much to let go of an opportunity to outrage?” Malviya posted on X.

Understanding Apple’s threat messages

These Apple threat notifications are part of a system designed to alert users who may be targeted by state-sponsored attackers. These notifications, delivered via iMessage, are individually sent to users because they are perceived as potential targets due to their positions or activities, according to Apple’s support page.

“Unlike traditional cybercriminals, state-sponsored attackers apply exceptional resources to target a very small number of specific individuals and their devices, which makes these attacks much harder to detect and prevent. State-sponsored attacks are highly complex, cost millions of dollars to develop, and often have a short shelf life. The vast majority of users will never be targeted by such attacks,” Apple mentioned.

“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,” it added.

However, as of now, Apple has not released an official statement on this particular incident.