WP chair Sylvia Lim not pursuing alleged hacking of her phone, police to 'treat matter as closed'

SINGAPORE — The police have closed a matter related to concerns expressed by Workers' Party chairman Sylvia Lim that her mobile phone could have been hacked, after Ms Lim decided not to pursue it further.

In a statement on Thursday (Feb 24), the police said that Ms Lim had informed them during a meeting on Wednesday that she was satisfied with Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam’s parliamentary reply last week over a notification she received from Apple that her iPhone could have been hacked by "state-sponsored attackers".

“Accordingly, she did not file a police report, nor did she require any forensic examination of her phone. As such, the police will treat the matter as closed,” they said in the statement.

In Parliament on Feb 18, the Aljunied Group Representation Constituency Member of Parliament had asked for confirmation that her phone had not been hacked by Singapore’s state agencies. Ms Lim said that she had received a notification from the phone manufacturer that her phone could be under threat of hacking by state actors.

Mr Shanmugam, who is also Law Minister, said that Ms Lim's phone had not been hacked by Singapore state agencies, after he checked with his ministry. He then urged her to come forward to the Ministry of Home Affairs for a “thorough investigation”.

Then on Feb 19, the police advised Ms Lim to make a police report on the claim, which the police described as a serious allegation with implications for national security.

"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," they said then.

The police had been willing to engage a commercial organisation with expertise in the field to conduct the forensic examination through a “secure, auditable and transparent” process, they added.

On Thursday, the police said that they met Ms Lim on Feb 23 at their request, adding that the notification she received from Apple was similar to what was sent to various other iPhone users.