SINGAPORE (CNA) – Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam has asked the police to follow up with Member of Parliament Sylvia Lim (WP-Aljunied) regarding her claim that she had received a threat warning from Apple stating that her iPhone could be the subject of hacking by state-sponsored attackers, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said yesterday.
This is because the allegation is “very serious” and has potential implications on national security, the SPF said in a statement, noting it had written to Lim to advise her to file a police report.
“Alternatively, if she does not wish to file a report, she can hand over her phone to the police, so that a forensic examination can be conducted,” it added.
Lim said in Parliament on Friday that she had received the threat warning from Apple, and asked for confirmation that her phone had not been hacked by Singapore’s state agencies. She added that the tech company said this threat was “likely to be so because of who I am individually or what I do”.
Shanmugam responded then by stating that Lim’s phone had not been hacked by state agencies.
The SPF said yesterday that the Home Affairs Minister had also directed the police to engage a commercial organisation with expertise in this field to conduct the examination.
