India
‘Thanks PM Modi…’: Congress MP KC Venugopal hits out at Centre after Apple issued warning over ‘malicious spyware’ | India News – Times of India
NEW DELHI: Congressman KC Venugopal accused the Center on Saturday of using “malicious spyware” to try hack his phone and said he was notified of the attempt after receiving a notification from Apple.
Apple sent a similar warning to Venugopal on October 30, 2023.
A screenshot of Apple’s alert, which the congressional leader shared on the social media platform, read: “This is not a repeat notification. We want to let you know that we have detected a new attack on your device.”
He strongly condemns the alleged attempts by the government led by Prime Minister Modi to hack his phone using state sponsored spywareVenugopal said, “Thank you PM Modi ji for putting your favorite malicious spyware on my phone too! Apple was kind enough to inform me about this special gift from you!”
Venugopal accused the Modi government of acting in a “criminal and unconstitutional manner” by “targeting political opponents and violating their privacy.”
Referring to the recent Lok Sabha elections, Venugopal claimed that the people have rejected every attack on the Constitution and the BJP’s “fascist agenda”. He vowed to “oppose tooth and nail this blatantly unconstitutional act and invasion of our privacy”.
Venugopal’s comments come days after tech giant Apple again warned iPhone users in at least 98 countries, including India, about a possible new spyware attack dubbed ‘Pegasus’.
Apple’s warning tells users that “you have been targeted by a mercenary spyware attack that attempts to remotely compromise the iPhone associated with your Apple ID.” In the warning, the iPhone maker went on to say that this attack “is likely to target you specifically because of who you are or what you do.”
“While it is never possible to achieve absolute certainty in detecting such attacks, Apple is confident that this warning will be taken seriously,” the company said.Repeat of last year?
In October last year, the US tech company sent similar warnings to users in India.
Several opposition leaders, including Shashi Tharoor, Mahua Moitra and Priyanka Chaturvedi, had also shared posts showing Apple’s warning at the time. They accused the Centre of being behind the “state-sponsored” attack.
Rahul Gandhi also said that his office staff had received the warning.
The opposition accuses the Modi government of using surveillance software like Pegasus to keep an eye on its political rivals.
The Centre had at the time denied all allegations but had promised to investigate the origin of the reports. IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had asked Apple to provide “real, accurate information” about the alleged attacks.
Apple sent a similar warning to Venugopal on October 30, 2023.
A screenshot of Apple’s alert, which the congressional leader shared on the social media platform, read: “This is not a repeat notification. We want to let you know that we have detected a new attack on your device.”
He strongly condemns the alleged attempts by the government led by Prime Minister Modi to hack his phone using state sponsored spywareVenugopal said, “Thank you PM Modi ji for putting your favorite malicious spyware on my phone too! Apple was kind enough to inform me about this special gift from you!”
Venugopal accused the Modi government of acting in a “criminal and unconstitutional manner” by “targeting political opponents and violating their privacy.”
Referring to the recent Lok Sabha elections, Venugopal claimed that the people have rejected every attack on the Constitution and the BJP’s “fascist agenda”. He vowed to “oppose tooth and nail this blatantly unconstitutional act and invasion of our privacy”.
Venugopal’s comments come days after tech giant Apple again warned iPhone users in at least 98 countries, including India, about a possible new spyware attack dubbed ‘Pegasus’.
Apple’s warning tells users that “you have been targeted by a mercenary spyware attack that attempts to remotely compromise the iPhone associated with your Apple ID.” In the warning, the iPhone maker went on to say that this attack “is likely to target you specifically because of who you are or what you do.”
“While it is never possible to achieve absolute certainty in detecting such attacks, Apple is confident that this warning will be taken seriously,” the company said.
Repeat of last year?
In October last year, the US tech company sent similar warnings to users in India.
Several opposition leaders, including Shashi Tharoor, Mahua Moitra and Priyanka Chaturvedi, had also shared posts showing Apple’s warning at the time. They accused the Centre of being behind the “state-sponsored” attack.
Rahul Gandhi also said that his office staff had received the warning.
The opposition accuses the Modi government of using surveillance software like Pegasus to keep an eye on its political rivals.
The Centre had at the time denied all allegations but had promised to investigate the origin of the reports. IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had asked Apple to provide “real, accurate information” about the alleged attacks.
