Union Minister Brushes Off Hacking Accusations Against Opposition as Mere Pranks

Union Minister Piyush Goyal has dismissed the allegations of a 'state-sponsored attack' message sent to some Opposition leaders by Apple, suggesting it may be a prank. He encouraged the Opposition to officially report the incident for government action.

"I think perhaps someone played a prank on the Opposition leaders. They should lodge an official complaint and the Government will take appropriate action on that basis," Goyal said.

Goyal criticized the Opposition for viewing conspiracies in everything, attributing it to their current weak state.

"I think the Opposition is going through a very weak phase these days, so they see conspiracy in everything. The reality is that Apple has itself cleared that this was some sort of malfunction and this message has reached people in 150 countries. It seems that this was an error from Apple's end, hackers too are active across the world. This will be investigated. Apple too has been told to join in," he said.

"They (Opposition) can claim anything they want but the country knows their situation, they are so tangled in their infighting. They should look at their weaknesses first instead of commenting on us. It is clear that the government has no role in this and the government doesn't need to do anything like this," the Union Minister added.

Earlier, Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and KC Venugopal, among others, received the "Apple warning message," alleging government involvement in breaching their devices.

Various political leaders claimed their Apple devices were hacked after receiving warning messages, and they shared screenshots of these warnings. RJD MP expressed concern and called for government clarification. AAP MP Raghav Chaddha saw it as an attack on the people of India. Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi believed it to be a sponsored program of the Central Government and called for an investigation and government clarification.

According to Apple's support page, state-sponsored attacks are sophisticated, expensive to develop, and typically short-lived. They target a minority of users. Apple notifies affected users through a Threat Notification on their Apple ID page and via email and iMessage notifications to associated contact information.

Also Read: What Apple, Telecom Minister Said After Oppn MPs Raised Alarm Over Warning Note