Several Indian opposition leaders have said that Apple has warned them that their iPhones may be targets of state-sponsored attacks. More than six opposition leaders from various political parties have said that they have received warnings from Apple, including Mahua Moitra of the Trinamool Congress Party, Priyanka Chaturvedi of the Shiv Sena, and Pawan Khera of the Indian National Congress.
The warnings from Apple state that the company believes the leaders are being targeted by “state-sponsored attackers who are trying to remotely compromise the iPhone associated with your Apple ID.”
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Apple in its statement has confirmed sending these threat notifications. “Apple 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. We are unable to provide information about what causes us to issue threat notifications, as that may help state-sponsored attackers adapt their behavior to evade detection in the future,” it said in a statement.
Apple in the past has advised its users who receive such alerts to activate the Lockdown mode. Available in iOS16, iPadOS 16 and above, watchOS 10 or above and macOS Ventura or above, this feature helps protect Apple devices against extremely rare and highly sophisticated cyber attacks.
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What is Lockdown mode?
Lockdown Mode disables a number of features and functionality on the iPhone in order to make it more difficult for attackers to gain access. These features include blocking most message attachments, disabling link previews in Messages, disabling certain complex web technologies, preventing wired connections to the iPhone when it is locked, and disabling certain Apple services, such as FaceTime, Live Photos and iCloud Photo Sharing. However, phone calls and plain text messages will continue to work while Lockdown Mode is enabled. Emergency features, such as SOS emergency calls, will also be intact.
How to activate Lockdown mode?
To enable Lockdown Mode for your Apple devices, you have to follow these steps:
For iPhone or iPad: Open the Settings app. Tap “Privacy & Security.” Scroll down and tap “Lockdown Mode.” Tap “Turn On Lockdown Mode.” Confirm by tapping “Turn On & Restart” and enter your device passcode.
For Mac: Click the Apple menu and select System Settings. In the sidebar, click “Privacy & Security.” Scroll down and click “Lockdown Mode.” Click “Turn On Lockdown Mode” and enter your user password if prompted. Confirm by clicking “Turn On & Restart.”
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