"Why did this alert come only to opposition leaders," Sitaram Yechury questions centre on Apple warning row

New Delhi [India], November 1 (ANI): Responding to the claims of opposition leaders that they have received a warning message from Apple about 'state-sponsored attackers' potentially targeting their iPhones and other devices, CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury made a veiled attack towards the centre and questioned why the alert had come only to opposition leaders and not to anyone from the ruling party.
Speaking to ANI on the issue, Yechury said, "First of all you tell whether there is any government agency that has been given the responsibility to conduct such surveillance against opposition leaders. And why did this alert come only to opposition leaders and some journalists and not to anybody from the ruling party? We are asking the government for clarification."
"Why is the government not answering whether they bought the Pegasus software from the Israeli agencies or not? Even the SC said that the government refused to cooperate on the issue. It is not our concern if it (Apple alert) has come in 110 nations, we want to know how is this happening in our country," the CPI (M) leader said.
Earlier, Sitaram Yechury wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the alert he received from Apple about the "state-sponsored snooping" of his communication devices and said any such move "constitutes a gross violation of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution of India to all its citizens".
Yechury said he received an alert last night about his communication device.
"Apple believes you are being targeted by state-sponsored attackers who are trying to remotely compromise the iPhone associated with your Apple ID," Yechury wrote in the letter citing the alert.
Several other political leaders also reported similar alerts from Apple.
TMC MP Mahua Moitra, Congress' Pawan Khera, Shashi Tharoor and AAP MP Raghav Chaddha were among those who said they had received an alert from Apple.
Minister for Railways, Communications, Electronics & Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said the government has asked Apple to join an investigation into the allegations.
"The Government of Bharat takes its role of protecting the privacy and security of all citizens very seriously and will investigate to get to the bottom of these notifications. In light of such information and widespread speculation, we have also asked Apple to join the investigation with real, accurate information on the alleged state-sponsored attacks," Vaishnaw posted on X.
The minister said that Apple has also claimed that Apple IDs are securely encrypted on devices, making it extremely difficult to access or identify them without the user's explicit permission. "This encryption safeguards the user's Apple ID and ensures that it remains private and protected. (ANI)