Apple’s warnings in late October that Indian journalists and opposition figures may have been targeted by state attacks prompted a forceful counterattack from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. Officials publicly disputed Apple’s findings and announced an investigation into the device’s security.
India has never confirmed or denied the use of the Pegasus tool, but the non-profit advocacy group Amnesty International mentionted on Thursday that it found NSO Group’s invasive spyware on the iPhones of prominent journalists in India, lending more credence to Apple’s early warnings.
“Our latest findings show that increasingly, journalists in India face the threat of illegal surveillance simply for doing their jobs, alongside other tools of repression such as imprisonment under draconian laws, smear campaigns, harassment and intimidation,” Donncha Ó Cearbhaill, head of Amnesty International’s Security Lab, said in a blog post.
“Despite repeated revelations, there has been a shameful lack of accountability regarding the use of Pegasus spyware in India, which only heightens the sense of impunity for these human rights abuses.”
The Washington Post reported separately on Thursday that Apple faced heat from senior Modi administration officials who, behind closed doors, earlier asked Apple mitigate the political impact of the warnings. Senior officials called Apple representatives to insist on alternative explanations, even flying in an Apple security expert to meet with ministry leaders, the report added.
A pressure campaign by Indian officials to soften the impact of the warnings irked Apple executives in California but achieved limited results, the Washington Post added. While Apple officials in India initially helped cast doubt on the alerts — issuing a statement that in part said it was possible some alerts were false alarms — the company did not issue any further statements reassuring authorities after the visit expert.
The report adds:
The recent episode also explained the dangers faced by critics of the government in India and their duration the Modi government will move to deflect suspicions that it has engaged in piracy against its perceived enemies, according to digital rights groups, industry workers and Indian journalists.
Many of the more than 20 people who received Apple’s warnings in late October have gone public criticize Modi or his longtime ally Gautam Adani, an Indian energy and infrastructure tycoon. They included a politician from the state of West Bengal, a communist leader from southern India and a representative of the nation based in New Delhi largest opposition party.
For Apple, maintaining its commitment to user security took precedence over risks to its growing business in India. Apple, which opened two official stores in India this year, plans to shift 25% of iPhone production to India by 2025, according to analysts at JP Morgan. But the showdown revealed Modi’s willingness to turn the screws on Big Tech.
