Apple’s US cyber security executives are expected to meet officials of
CERT-In this month regarding the show cause notice issued to the company in the
wake of several Opposition MPs receiving a warning notification on their
iPhones.
Last month, several Opposition leaders claimed they have received an
alert from Apple warning them of “state-sponsored attackers trying to remotely
compromise” their iPhones and alleged hacking by the government.
CERT-In, which comes under Meity, had issued a show cause notice to Apple
in this regard.
Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology (Meity)
Rajeev Chandrasekhar said Apple has to reply to the notice which needs to be
done by their global cyber security team.
“They have to come here and answer those questions. Basic issue is
ongoing,” the minister told reporters on Friday.
He said the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team or CERT-In has met
local representatives of Apple but the issue is beyond their capability to
respond.
“It is their cyber security people who have to come and meet CERT-In and
they will come all the way from the US,” said the minister.
When asked about the deadline given to Apple to submit its response, the
minister said he is not certain about the dates but expects the team to meet
Cert-In officials sometime this month.
A Meity official said the Apple cyber security team will come this month
only if they get a visa on time.
Meanwhile, the MPs, who received the warning notification on their
iPhones include Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, party leaders Shashi
Tharoor, Pawan Khera, KC Venugopal, Supriya Shrinate, TS Singhdeo and Bhupinder
S Hooda; Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram
Yechury and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, Aam Aadmi Party’s Raghav Chadha,
AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi and some aides of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi
also received the notification.
PTI
