India probes opposition phone tap allegations

NEW DELHI: India´s cyber security unit is investigating allegations by opposition politicians of attempted phone tapping after they reported receiving Apple iPhone warnings of “state-sponsored attackers”, media reported on Thursday. 

India´s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has opened a probe into the complaints, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. “Apple will cooperate in this probe,” S. Krishnan, secretary for the electronics and information ministry, was quoted as saying.

Ashwini Vaishnaw, the information and technology minister, said Tuesday that the government was “concerned” by the complaints. “The Government of Bharat (India) 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,” he said on social media.

Opposition Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi said his staff members had received the iPhone warning message, as well as opposition lawmakers including Shashi Tharoor, Mahua Moitra and Priyanka Chaturvedi.