Being targetted by “state-sponsored” attackers remotely: Mahua’s letter to Lok Sabha Speaker  

NEW DELHI | Updated: 01 November, 2023 4:47 pm IST
TMC MP Mahua Moitra sent a letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker to make him aware of details regarding the "state sponsored" surveillance

NEW DELHI: Trinamool Congress’ Lok Sabha Parliamentarian Mahua Moitra wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla regarding “warning messages” of their Apple devices being hacked on Wednesday. 

Earlier Moitra had taken to the social media platform, X, to share the warning message from Apple tagging Shiv Sena (UBT) parliamentarian Priyanka Chaturvedi. 

The content of the letter sent to the Speaker on Wednesday has been referred to as “urgent” and “immediate threat of remote surveillance by state sponsored attackers”. 

 

Moitra’s letter when delving into the issue of the warning alerts received by the parliamentarians to their Apple iPhones, read, “We were being targetted by “state-sponsored” attackers who were attempting to remotely compromise our devices and access our data, communications, and even the camera and microphone.”

The Krishnanagar MP further sought to bring to the notice of the Parliament to the allegations that had been brought forth with parties accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre of using the Israeli Pegasus spyware on dissenting voices. “This threat is doubly shocking in light of the Pegasus software (sold only to governments) that was used to compromise the devices of various members of the Opposition, dissenting journalists and members of civil society during 2019-2021. Honourable Shri Abhishek Banerjee, MP, National General Secretary of the All India Trinamool Congress, the party I represent in Lok Sabha, was one of the targets. In spite of the Opposition raising this issue in the House, no debate was allowed and no conclusive report has been filed by any agency,” the text of her letter read. 

She requested Om Birla to “seek accountability from the concerned authorities into this flagrant breach of law, Constitutional freedoms, and our rights as Members of Parliament.”

Apple had notified that these alerts had also been issued across the world, specifically, across 150 countries.

ALSO READ: Starting probe on Apple iPhone security breach of MPs in India: Union minister Vaishnaw

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