Russia bans officials from using iPhones in U.S. spying row

AppleInsider

Russia's Federal Security Service has encouraged thousands of officials in the country to stop using iPhones and Apple products over U.S. surveillance claims, but the officials aren't happy about the order.

Moscow, Russia

Authorities in the country have banned officials and state employees from using Apple hardware, including iPhones and iPads. Ministries and institutions of the government are being prevented from the devices, under continued concern over alleged activities by the U.S. to spy on Russian organizations.

As part of the ban, the trade ministry said it will ban iPhone usage for "work purposes from Monday, reports the Financial Times, while the digital development ministry says it will follow suit.

"Security officials in ministries - these are FSB employees who hold civilian positions such as deputy ministers - announced that iPhones were no longer considered safe and that alternates should be sought, a source close to a government agency told the report.

The FSB and officials "truly believe that Americans can use their equipment for wiretapping," security expert Andrey Soldatov explained. They added that while the FSB has "long been concerned about the use of iPhones for professional contacts," there may be some resistance to the change.

"The presidential administration and other officials opposed [restrictions] simply because they liked iPhones," Soldatov added.

In some cases, ministries apply the restrictions against Apple devices used for official purposes but still permit the use of iPhones and iPads for personal use. A person close to a ministry offered "Everyone complains that it's inconvenient and they have to carry another phone or tablet."

Another cyber security expert, Alexey Lukatsky, added that officials may not necessarily want to actually switch to using devices running the Russian-produced Aurora operating system. "There were restrictions on the use of work email on devices not certified by [security services] before. But most officials did not comply," Lutatsky explains, before wondering how many "will comply now."

The latest round of restrictions follow after a June 1 announcement by the FSB claiming the U.S. National Security Agency had used backdoor vulnerabilities in the iPhone, with Apple supposedly involved in the creation of the backdoors.

Apple was quick to flat-out deny the FSB's claims, insisting on June 2 that the company has "never worked with any government to insert a backdoor into any Apple product."

Read on AppleInsider

davidmalcolm

100% this is because Russia can’t hack their own employee’s phones and Putin wants to know who is plotting to take him out. 

There are no other phones that Russia could be giving all these people that would be more secure than an iPhone. Certainly none that wouldn’t be affected by sanctions. 

And using Android just makes them all a much easier target.

100% this is because Putin wants to be able to read all the unsecured texts etc. 

killroy

Pegasus spyware is what they should be afraid of.

jdw

I am not inclined to believe that Apple lied about not working with governments to create back doors, nor is there any hard evidence to support that either.  But it is unsettling that the NSA could (and possibly still can) infect certain iPhones simply by sending a text message, and the iPhone recipient need not have clicked on anything at all for the malware to become rooted to the phone...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN9MzWw9G3o

bobolicious

Is there any update on this: gizmodo.com/apple-iphone-privacy-analytics-12-lawsuits-statement-1850077715 ?

anonymouse

jdw said:

I am not inclined to believe that Apple lied about not working with governments to create back doors, nor is there any hard evidence to support that either.  But it is unsettling that the NSA could (and possibly still can) infect certain iPhones simply by sending a text message, and the iPhone recipient need not have clicked on anything at all for the malware to become rooted to the phone...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN9MzWw9G3o

Well, if you are genuinely rattled by that, and not just affecting concern, you might as well turn off all your devices, from Apple and everyone else, and/or keep them air-gapped. There always have been, and will for the foreseeable future be, software defects capable of exploits, and people willing to invest enormous resources in finding those.

40domi

AppleInsider said:

Russia's Federal Security Service has encouraged thousands of officials in the country to stop using iPhones and Apple products over U.S. surveillance claims, but the officials aren't happy about the order.

Moscow, Russia

Authorities in the country have banned officials and state employees from using Apple hardware, including iPhones and iPads. Ministries and institutions of the government are being prevented from the devices, under continued concern over alleged activities by the U.S. to spy on Russian organizations.

As part of the ban, the trade ministry said it will ban iPhone usage for "work purposes from Monday, reports the Financial Times, while the digital development ministry says it will follow suit.

"Security officials in ministries - these are FSB employees who hold civilian positions such as deputy ministers - announced that iPhones were no longer considered safe and that alternates should be sought, a source close to a government agency told the report.

The FSB and officials "truly believe that Americans can use their equipment for wiretapping," security expert Andrey Soldatov explained. They added that while the FSB has "long been concerned about the use of iPhones for professional contacts," there may be some resistance to the change.

"The presidential administration and other officials opposed [restrictions] simply because they liked iPhones," Soldatov added.

In some cases, ministries apply the restrictions against Apple devices used for official purposes but still permit the use of iPhones and iPads for personal use. A person close to a ministry offered "Everyone complains that it's inconvenient and they have to carry another phone or tablet."

Another cyber security expert, Alexey Lukatsky, added that officials may not necessarily want to actually switch to using devices running the Russian-produced Aurora operating system. "There were restrictions on the use of work email on devices not certified by [security services] before. But most officials did not comply," Lutatsky explains, before wondering how many "will comply now."

The latest round of restrictions follow after a June 1 announcement by the FSB claiming the U.S. National Security Agency had used backdoor vulnerabilities in the iPhone, with Apple supposedly involved in the creation of the backdoors.

Apple was quick to flat-out deny the FSB's claims, insisting on June 2 that the company has "never worked with any government to insert a backdoor into any Apple product."

Read on AppleInsider

The fact is that, any digital devise can be hacked, we gave up our privacy when we started using them over the internet, it's just a question of, which ones are harder to hack.
Don't believe the FSB allegations at all!

StrangeDays

anonymouse said:

jdw said:

I am not inclined to believe that Apple lied about not working with governments to create back doors, nor is there any hard evidence to support that either.  But it is unsettling that the NSA could (and possibly still can) infect certain iPhones simply by sending a text message, and the iPhone recipient need not have clicked on anything at all for the malware to become rooted to the phone...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN9MzWw9G3o

Well, if you are genuinely rattled by that, and not just affecting concern, you might as well turn off all your devices, from Apple and everyone else, and/or keep them air-gapped. There always have been, and will for the foreseeable future be, software defects capable of exploits, and people willing to invest enormous resources in finding those.

Agreed, zero-day exploits are a thing. Because humans are imperfect our software is imperfect. But iOS fairs better than any crummy android version Russia prefers. 

jdw

anonymouse said:

jdw said:

I am not inclined to believe that Apple lied about not working with governments to create back doors, nor is there any hard evidence to support that either.  But it is unsettling that the NSA could (and possibly still can) infect certain iPhones simply by sending a text message, and the iPhone recipient need not have clicked on anything at all for the malware to become rooted to the phone...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN9MzWw9G3o

Well, if you are genuinely rattled by that, and not just affecting concern, you might as well turn off all your devices, from Apple and everyone else, and/or keep them air-gapped. There always have been, and will for the foreseeable future be, software defects capable of exploits, and people willing to invest enormous resources in finding those.

I don't post here unless I am rattled or have concerns or have a passionate opinion, but I am not going to turn off all my devices because that is totally ridiculous advice.  My concern is not about being hacked, but rather about the truthfulness of Apple with regard to their defense of our security, and their public statements that they do not work with governmental organizations like the NSA, FBI, etc., to create back doors.  If the NSA has found a hole, then it would be up to honest Apple to eventually block that hole.  And while that doesn't mean other holes may not be found, and while that doesn't mean people are perfect or there is perfect software, it does mean that known holes can and should be filled.

And there you have it.

command_f

Russian government abandons iPhones for local product. I expect there are a few people in a few Western security agencies pleased to hear that...