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Worker's Party (WP) Chairman Sylvia Lim confirmed that she met with the police on Feb. 23, in relation to the phone hacking remarks she made in parliament on Feb. 18.

In response to Mothership's queries, Lim said that she told the police she was satisfied with Minister for Law and Home Affairs K Shanmugam's reply to her in parliament and "did not wish to pursue the matter further".

Police treat the matter as closed

According to CNA, the police statement said that the Apple phone notification "appears similar to what Apple had sent to various Apple phone users".

Lim "did not file a police report, nor did she require any forensic examination of her phone," said the police, who added that they will therefore "treat the matter as closed".

Police followed up on Feb. 19

CNA reported previously that the police had written to Lim to follow up on her phone hacking claims, upon the request of Shanmugam, on Feb. 19.

This was the day after Lim said she had received a threat warning from Apple that informed her that her iPhone could be the subject of hacking by state-sponsored attackers in Parliament on Feb. 18.

In a statement to the media, the police said that the allegation is "very serious" and has potential implications on national security, and they advised Lim to file a police report.

The statement added: "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."

According to the police's statement, Shanmugam had also directed the police to engage a commercial organisation with expertise in this field to conduct the examination, The Straits Times reported.

The law and home affairs minister "has also directed that police put in place a secure, auditable and transparent process to handle and examine her phone, from the point in time that Ms Lim hand over the phone, to its return to her", the statement wrote.

Background

Lim made the claim in parliament on Feb. 18, while Minister of State for Home Affairs Desmond Tan was addressing a question posed by Member of Parliament (MP) for Aljunied GRC Leon Perera.

Perera had asked Tan whether the government was a user of spyware from an Israeli company QuaDream and if the government has deployed this spyware, or other spyware, in Singapore.

After Tan replied Perera, Lim said: “So not long ago, I received a threat warning from Apple informing me that it could be that my iPhone [has] been the subject of hacking by state-sponsored attackers, and they also said it is likely to be so because of who I am individually or what I do."

She followed and said: “So based on what the Minister of State said just now that reliance on technology is required for national security reasons, can I get his confirmation that I should have absolutely no concerns that the Singapore government agencies are trying to hack into my phone?”

Shanmugam's response to Lim

Later in the same day (Feb. 18) Shanmugam responded to Lim in parliament.

He said: "I can tell Miss Lim that her phone has not been hacked by Singapore state agencies."

He said that he had done a "quick check with SID [Security and Intelligence Division]" between the time that Lim had raised her concerns and his response to her, and added that he was speaking "for agencies under Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)".

Shanmugam advised Lim to go to MHA, who will do a "thorough investigation", and said he "would like to see the precise notification from Apple".

This was to understand if it was a general notification sent to multiple persons, or if it was a specific notification sent to Lim only.

Shanmugam said MHA would be "very interested" if it was the latter.

"Because, and particularly with a state sponsored agency, this is something that we are extremely concerned about," he said.

"She is a MP. All MPs are potential targets. And we would like to know, and we would like to get to the bottom of it, as to who is trying to get into her phone ... In this sense, MPs are high value targets for foreign agencies. "

Shanmugam remarked: "It is the duty of our security agencies to be very aware of whether MPs or Ministers or senior civil servants or those around them or their families are being approached or suborned. It is in the interest of Singapore and the security of Singapore that state agencies are on top of the game."

You can watch the exchange in parliament here.

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Top image screenshot from video by Ministry of Communications and Information/YouTube and from Singapore Police Force/Facebook