Apple Team Likely To Meet CERT-In Execs Over iPhone Warning Notification To MPs

Apple’s cybersecurity executives from the US are expected to meet officials of CERT-In, the Indian government’s nodal agency on computer security, this month in connection with the show cause notice issued to the tech giant after several opposition leaders alleged warning notification on their iPhones. 

Last month, several opposition MPs reported receiving an alert from Apple about “state-sponsored attackers” trying to remotely compromise their iPhones, alleging government hacking. Following this, CERT-In issued a show cause notice to Apple related to the matter.

On Friday (November 24) Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) Rajeev Chandrasekhar said that Apple has to reply to the notice which needs to be done by their global cyber security team.

“They have to come here and answer those questions. Basic issue is ongoing,” the minister told reporters.

He further said CERT-In had met with a local representative from Apple. However, “the issue is beyond their capability to address”.

“It is their cyber security people who have to come and meet CERT-In and they will come all the way from the US,” the minister said.

When questioned about the deadline for Apple to submit its response, the minister expressed uncertainty about the dates but expects the team to meet CERT-In officials sometime this month. 

A Meity official mentioned that the Apple cybersecurity team plans to visit this month, contingent on timely visa issuance.

Notably, MPs who received the warning notification on their iPhones include Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Shashi Tharoor, Pawan Khera, K C Venugopal, Supriya Shrinate, T S Singhdeo, Bhupinder S Hooda, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury and SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav. Others who also received the notification include Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, Aam Aadmi Party’s Raghav Chadha, AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi, and some aides of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi.

Earlier this month, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) issued a notice to tech giant Apple regarding the controversial threat notifications received by various opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) and journalists. These notifications, sent by Apple, had cautioned the recipients about potential “state-sponsored” cyber threats targeting their devices.

The notice was a response to allegations made by several prominent opposition MPs and journalists, who claimed to have received warnings from Apple regarding suspected state-sponsored actors attempting to compromise the security of their devices.

Earlier reports indicated that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology (IT) planned to summon Apple representatives to address the threat alerts sent by the company to Indian political leaders.