CPI(M) MP John Brittas urges Parliamentary panel to probe Apple's threat notifications to Opposition leaders

New Delhi: CPI(M) MP John Brittas, member of the parliamentary panel on Information and Technology, wrote a letter to its chairman demanding to call for an urgent meeting to examine the recent threat notification messages by Apple to several MPs who use iPhone.

Several opposition leaders including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, TMC MP Mahua Moitra and Congress general secretary KC Venugopal — received notifications this week alerting them against an effort to remotely compromise their iPhones by “state-sponsored attackers”.

Demanding investigation in the issue by the parliamentary panel, Brittas said this threat notification is "reminiscent of the Pegasus spyware scandal, which targeted voices critical of the ruling dispensation, and is a matter of deep concern for our democracy."


The committee should examine the “nature and credibility” of the security threat identified by Apple and also investigae the "potential involvement of state-supported hackers and their motivations."

iPhone-maker Apple Inc in a statement on Tuesday had said it does not attribute threat notifications, such as the ones received by some leaders belonging to Opposition parties, to any specific state-sponsored attackers and that it cannot provide information on what causes such warnings.

Apple in a statement also stated it is possible that some threat notifications may be false alarms and some attacks may not be detected.

“Apple does not attribute the threat notifications to any specific state-sponsored attacker,” the firm said.

State-sponsored attackers, it said, are “very well-funded and sophisticated, and their attacks evolve over time”.