Apple CEO Tim Cook image: Apple

Last week, Google security researchers published a post about security vulnerabilities on the iPhone, that involved the use of a “small collection” of hacked websites to stage attacks on any iPhone that visited them. Google’s security researchers say they discovered 14 security vulnerabilities across five exploit chains, which “indicated a group making a sustained effort to hack the users of iPhones in certain communities over a period of at least two years.” Apple was informed of the vulnerabilities and pushed out a patch 10 days after it got notified.

The discovery and patch happened as early as February this year, but in the light of Google’s recent report, generated concerns from Apple customers. Now Apple has published a statement on the issue, accusing Google of creating a false impression of “mass exploitation” used to “monitor the private activities of entire populations in real time,”. Apple accuses Google of “stoking fear” among all iPhone users that their devices had been compromised, for what it termed as a “narrowly focused” security attack.

Apple says the attacks involved fewer than a dozen websites that focused on content related to the Uighur community, an ethnic group in China that’s been the subject of reported spying from Chinese authorities. Apple says evidence indicates the website attacks were only operational for a period of “roughly two months”, not “two years” as Google’s security researchers implied. Apple says it was “already in the process of fixing the exploited bugs” when Google notified them of it.

“Regardless of the scale of the attack, we take the safety and security of all users extremely seriously.” Apple’s statement read. “Security is a never-ending journey and our customers can be confident we are working for them. iOS security is unmatched because we take end-to-end responsibility for the security of our hardware and software. Our product security teams around the world are constantly iterating to introduce new protections and patch vulnerabilities as soon as they’re found. We will never stop our tireless work to keep our users safe.” It said.

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