The central govt has launched an investigation into a reported cyberattack on Tata Electronics after leaked documents from Apple’s unreleased iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max were leaked on the dark web.
S. Krishnan, Secretary at the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), yesterday, said to reporters in a statement: “The government is looking into the incident.
We are investigating," Krishnan said, adding that the matter had been referred to the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), India's nodal cybersecurity agency responsible for responding to major cyber incidents.
The breach has raised fears that Apple's new flagship smartphones (expected later this year) are at risk because of sensitive information about them.
The leaked data, as Reuters reported, was after a ransomware group allegedly targeted Tata Electronics, one of Apple’s largest manufacturing partners in India.
The leaked files contain confidential component lists, supplier information, internal documents and photographs of unreleased iPhone 18 Pro prototypes. At least six documents identify companies who supply the smartphone with crucial components including processors, battery components and camera modules.
The leaked files also contain detailed information mapping hundreds of individual parts used in the iPhone 18 Pro— information that Apple typically keeps highly confidential and does not disclose through its public supplier database.
Some documents contain Apple’s confidential labels and internal project code names for the iPhone 18 Pro development programme, they say. The leak also included images of prototype devices that had been durability and drop tested earlier this year at a Tata Electronics facility.
Computer security experts believe that leaks like these can have wider implications than product design leaks. Internal supplier information could reveal Apple’s manufacturing strategy, its dependence on specific component manufacturers, and the international supply chain of Apple’s suppliers. This could be exploited by cybercriminals, competitors, or counterfeit manufacturers.
The incident also shows the growing cybersecurity risks for global electronics manufacturers as India plays a significant role in Apple’s production network. Tata Electronics is now one of Apple’s most integral manufacturing partners; it handles assembly operations and supplies components as it expands its manufacturing footprint outside China.
So the authorities will now investigate the nature of the breach, whether confidential customer or business information was compromised, and how deep the ransomware attack went. CERT-In is likely to partner with Tata Electronics and other stakeholders as part of the ongoing investigation.
Apple and Tata Electronics are not making any public statement on the alleged leak at this time. More will be released in the course of the investigation.
