When experts at Google recently figured out that Iphone phones were hacked into "mass infringement", it was a revelation that got many in the industry thrown to the office.

The attacks were described as the biggest known to hit Apple phones, which are otherwise considered to have good security. They must have exploited a number of vulnerabilities, including ones that even Apple did not know but are now fixing. Soon there was also information that the tracks pointed to China.

But Apple has not been flat on the data and released a statement this weekend. There, Apple admits that parts of the rival's disclosure are correct, but claims about the scope of the attacks are disputed. Assessors have also pointed out that the data comes in a sensitive position ahead of Tuesday's release of the new Iphone model.

Adheres to the information

Google "gives the erroneous image of 'mass intrusion' to 'monitor the private actions of entire populations in real time' which is causing concern among all iPhone users for their devices being hacked," Apple writes, adding: "That was never the case."

According to Apple, the attacks appear to have been going on for two months rather than two years and should not have been broadly targeted at the public.

Google, for its part, has stuck to its information about the iPhone hack. Media data indicates that Google's operating system Android as well as Windows should have been affected.

Confirms Chinese connection

But the statement contains more. Apparently, to diminish the danger to people in common, Apple confirms that the infected sites contained material targeted at Uighurs, a Muslim minority group in China that is subject to very far-reaching surveillance and state control.

Apple does not identify anyone guilty, but the Techcrunch site has stated that state-controlled Chinese hackers were behind. Apple's wording has led to criticism that Apple should have expressed its support for Uighurs.

"What bothers me the most about Apple right now is that they are completely inside the Chinese market and, thus, refuse to say something like 'A government abolished by ethnic cleansing of a minority population has carried out a mass hacking attack on our users', Nicholas Weaver, a researcher at UC Berkeley, tweeted.