The Indian government's agency the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) on Friday (Dec 15) warned users of iPhone and other Apple products of multiple vulnerabilities that could allow hackers to access sensitive information.

The Indian government's agency the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) on Friday (Dec 15) warned users of iPhone and other Apple products of multiple vulnerabilities that could allow hackers to access sensitive information. In its report, the CERT said, "Multiple vulnerabilities have been reported in Apple products which could allow an attacker to access sensitive information, execute arbitrary code, bypass security restrictions, cause denial of service (DoS) conditions, bypass authentication, gain elevated privileges, and perform spoofing attacks on the targeted systems." Which Apple products have been affected? According to the CERT, the affected products include versions iOS versions prior to 17.2 and 16.7.3; iPad iOS versions prior to 17.2 and 16.7.3; macOS Sonoma versions prior to 14.2; macOS Ventura versions prior to 13.6.3; macOS Monterey versions prior to 12.7.2; tvOS versions prior to 17.2; watchOS versions prior to 10.2; and Safari versions prior to 17.2. The CERT has put up the severity rating in all these Apple products as 'High'. Some of the impacts include denial of service, security feature bypass, elevation of privileges, and spoofing attacks. The government agency also advised users of these products to apply for appropriate software updates. Centre issues warning for Samsung phones The warning for Apple products comes after the CERT released security warnings for Samsung products, specifically the Galaxy phones. "Multiple vulnerabilities have been reported in Samsung products that could allow an attacker to bypass implemented security restrictions, access sensitive information, and execute arbitrary code on the targeted system," the CERT said in its vulnerability note. The note emphasised the issues which might affect Samsung mobile phones that have been using Android versions 11 and above.

After Samsung, India now issues security warnings for users of iPhone, other Apple products

India has set a March 31 deadline for London-based political consultancy Cambridge Analytica to respond to a query on whether it was engaged to improperly harvest Facebook data on Indian citizens, the information technology ministry said.

India&#39;s information technology minister last week warned against any abuse of social media in elections, following reports that the analytics firm improperly accessed information on millions of Facebook users to target US&nbsp;voters.

Friday&#39;s notice to the firm followed local media reports that Indian political parties had used the data analytics firm during elections.

In a notice that went out on Friday, the entity was asked to send in its response on six specific queries by March 31, failing which it may face legal action from the Ministry of Information and Technology.&nbsp;The questions in the notice are as follows:&nbsp; 
 
1. Whether they have been engaged in any assignment to utilize data of Indians from the above-cited breach?&nbsp; 
 
2. Who are the entities that have engaged them for the above?&nbsp; 
 
3. How did they come to be in possession of such data?&nbsp;

4. Was consent taken from the individuals?&nbsp; 
 
5. How was such data collected used?&nbsp; 
 
6. Was there any profiling done on the basis of such data?

Earlier in the day, CERT issued an advisory asking Facebook users not to share their voting preferences on social media networking site besides following other general safeguards.&nbsp;

India is preparing for a general election in 2019 and several states will elect new assemblies this year and the next.

&quot;The fairness of Indian democracy and electoral process is a matter of pride and any attempt to influence the sanctity of the electoral franchise through dubious and questionable means is unacceptable,&quot; the ministry said in a statement.

Attempts by Reuters to seek comment from the firm, via social media, went unanswered.

The government was deeply concerned with allegations that data could have been used to influence people&#39;s behaviour, the ministry said.

The ministry has threatened to take legal action against companies and individuals engaging in any unauthorized use of such data.

(With inputs from Reuters)

India's information technology minister last week warned against any abuse of social media in elections, following reports that the analytics firm improperly accessed information on millions of Facebook users to target US voters

India has set a March 31 deadline for London-based political consultancy Cambridge Analytica to respond to a query on whether it was engaged to improperly harvest Facebook data on Indian citizens, the information technology ministry said. India's information technology minister last week warned against any abuse of social media in elections, following reports that the analytics firm improperly accessed information on millions of Facebook users to target US voters. Friday's notice to the firm followed local media reports that Indian political parties had used the data analytics firm during elections. In a notice that went out on Friday, the entity was asked to send in its response on six specific queries by March 31, failing which it may face legal action from the Ministry of Information and Technology. The questions in the notice are as follows: 1. Whether they have been engaged in any assignment to utilize data of Indians from the above-cited breach? 2. Who are the entities that have engaged them for the above? 3. How did they come to be in possession of such data? 4. Was consent taken from the individuals? 5. How was such data collected used? 6. Was there any profiling done on the basis of such data? Earlier in the day, CERT issued an advisory asking Facebook users not to share their voting preferences on social media networking site besides following other general safeguards. India is preparing for a general election in 2019 and several states will elect new assemblies this year and the next. "The fairness of Indian democracy and electoral process is a matter of pride and any attempt to influence the sanctity of the electoral franchise through dubious and questionable means is unacceptable," the ministry said in a statement. Attempts by Reuters to seek comment from the firm, via social media, went unanswered. The government was deeply concerned with allegations that data could have been used to influence people's behaviour, the ministry said. The ministry has threatened to take legal action against companies and individuals engaging in any unauthorized use of such data. (With inputs from Reuters)

India queries Cambridge Analytica over alleged Facebook data breach

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