Mumbai, India
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Indian government says Apple didn't provide enough information about 2023 iPhone hack warning .
In October, Apple warned independent journalists and opposition politicians in India about possible attempts to hack the government. Indian government officials responded by attacking Apple instead of addressing the hacking issues.
According to the Times of India, officials demanded to know why the attacks happened and asked Apple two “simple questions” in an attempt to find an answer.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, minister of state for electronics, said the government asked Apple whether its devices were safe and, if so, why the warning was sent to opposition members.
“In my opinion, no proprietary platform will fully acknowledge the existence of vulnerabilities in their platform. There is a tendency on any platform to deny the existence of vulnerabilities,” he said.
Apple allegedly did not give satisfactory answers.
“They provided a number of clarifications, including one on the same day that said it had nothing to do with the government official,” Chandrasekhar said. “But we pushed them further: If it has nothing to do with a government official, then what kind of notice is it?”
Chandrasekhar notes that this is a problem because the Indian government does not have the necessary expertise to understand what is happening under the hood of the iPhone.
“We certainly don't have the R&D (research and development) capabilities in government to understand what's in iOS and what's not, and Apple definitely isn't going to reveal its patented technology. So we contacted them “Chandrasekhar added.
The conflict between Apple and the Modi government highlights the challenges facing Silicon Valley in India. Apple considers India a critical market and is careful not to offend the Indian government, which is keen to attract major manufacturers such as Apple to boost economic growth.
