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Published 00:27 IST, November 1st 2023

Why Rahul, others not taking legal actions?: BJP says Oppn doing politics on state-sponsored attack

BJP has slammed various leaders of the I.N.D.I. A bloc over 'state-sponsored attack' allegations stating Apple has cleared, these alerts are often false alarms.

Reported by: Astha Singh
Why Rahul, others not taking legal actions?: BJP says Oppn doing politics on state-sponsored attack | Image: ANI

BJP has slammed the Opposition alliance after various leaders of the I.N.D.I. A bloc attacked the Centre claiming that they had received a warning message from Apple about 'state-sponsored attackers' potentially targeting their iPhones and other devices. Responding to these claims, BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia stated that Apple has already clarified that such alerts are often false alarms and baseless. He asserted that instead of taking legal action in such instances, the opposition starts doing politics.

"Apple has made it clear that these alerts are often false alarms. It should be asked why Rahul Gandhi and others don't follow the legal process-- they don't file a Police complaint or write to Apple company but start doing politics. We too have spoken to cyber experts. There are a few countries that have enmity against India and are experts in spying of this kind, I would like to say that malware, phishing and spyware come on your phone when an individual accesses such websites and even watches wrong content," said Gaurav Bhatia.

He further advised Rahul Gandhi to stay away from anti-national forces which can be against the country's welfare. "Rahul Gandhi, I would only like to request you to make good use of your mobile phone. Don't ally with any such anti-national force which is against the nation's interest or don't access any such website which is inappropriate for any Indian".

BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya cited Apple's clarification statement and issued a statement within and took a dig at Rahul Gandhi asserting he made a complete joke of himself.  He asked Gandhi-scion What is it that drives him to champion foreign agencies' sponsored stories? Soros? Last time too he didn’t submit his phone for investigation. Why waste national time by making frivolous allegations?

Mocking the I.N.D.I alliance, Malviya stated, "Life of an ‘issueless’ Opposition in India: wake up and outrage over something frivolous, roll in Rahul Gandhi and assorted voices in the ranks to wail, only to find that the issue is dead by noon".
He further informed, "Besides Apple’s statement, which is quite clear, I also spoke to a few technology experts, who opine that users susceptible to ing on salacious links are more likely to be at the receiving end of such phishing attacks. Beware of what you watch on your phone".

Apple releases statement

Apple released a statement emphasising that they do not attribute the threat notifications to any specific state-sponsored attacker. They further stated that threat notifications can be imperfect and incomplete, and some may even be false alarms. “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,” according to Apple's statement.

Govt pressuring Apple: CPI MP

Communist Party of India (CPI) MP Binoy Viswam spoke exclusively to Republic TV and alleged that Apple might have released the statement under government pressure and blamed the Centre for hacking into Opposition leaders' systems. “I don't believe in this statement of Apple because the government is spying on opposition. No investigation is needed because everyone is being spied these days. Earlier also it has happened and today again”.

Updated 00:27 IST, November 1st 2023

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