By the end of March, employees of the kremlin's domestic policy administration will have to get rid of their iPhones. This requirement was recently personally set by sergey kiriyenko, the deputy head of the russian presidential administration. According to the official version, for security reasons. Allegedly, Apple smartphones are recognized as the most vulnerable to hacking and espionage by Western countries.
Therefore, why didn't russian officials stop using 'enemy' gadgets immediately after the start of the full-scale invasion? Is espionage by Apple really possible? What really motivated kiriyenko to ban the iPhone? Mind sought answers to these and other questions.
How do Apple gadgets in russia turn into 'sidebricks'? This corporation announced its withdrawal from russia in early March 2022: it stopped selling its products and providing service, closed payments with russian bank cards in the App Store and removed applications of russia's banks from there, and banned access to the Apple Pay instant payment service. Subsequently, russians organised so-called parallel imports and workarounds through their mobile operators.
However, the iPhone currently has limited functionality: Apple Pay does not work, new models do not support VoLTE, russian language, etc. There is a small selection of gadgets on sale. Prices are 'slightly' overpriced compared to the prices of Ukrainian stores. For example, the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max 256GB Dual SIM in russia is sold for more than $1970. In Ukraine, it costs about UAH 60,000. The most popular model, the Apple iPhone 12 128G, costs more than $980 in russia and about UAH 27,000 in Ukraine.
Overall, from January to November 2022, iPhone sales in russia fell by 48% to 2.2 million. russian distributors explain the decline by the "tough economic situation" and the limited functionality of the system.
However, these 'trifles' still do not encourage russian officials to get rid of the 'trends of the pernicious West'. It took a personal ban.
Where did the kiriyenko get the information that "Apple smartphones are recognized as the most vulnerable to hacking and espionage"? From nowhere. Mind has not found a single study – not even a russian one – comparing brands that would confirm this claim.
Does this mean that iPhones are protected from jailbreaking? No, it doesn't. In today's digital world, any gadget can be hacked – given the desire and sufficient budget for hackers. Firstly, iPhones, like smartphones from other brands, can be hacked through operating system vulnerabilities. Apple periodically finds new vulnerabilities, closes them, and warns users. Thus, this way is unlikely to be used to spy on russian officials: such problems are solved quite quickly.
The second, more widespread and effective way is malware. Such programmes are constantly being improved and multiplied. Once again, they can perfectly 'settle down' both on the iPhone and on smartphones of other brands.
For example, the Pegasus software by the Israeli company NSO Group once made a splash. This software hacked smartphones, downloaded messages, photos, and videos from them, and activated the camera and microphone without the owners' knowledge. Investigators found about 50,000 phone numbers in the Pegasus database. Among them were the phone numbers of French President Emmanuel Macron and 14 ministers of the French government. The order allegedly came from Moroccan intelligence.
Is it possible to spy on russian officials, similarly? Of course, it is. Although replacing iPhones with Chinese or russian smartphone brands will not save them. However, it does open up another way for espionage, but not from the West. At the request of intelligence services, manufacturers 'loyal' to the authorities can 'forget' about the agreement with users and directly reissue data from gadgets.
In theory, countries with non-democratic regimes are at a greater risk of such a 'bend'. However, in practice, no manufacturer has been caught red-handed yet. However, the US has been periodically imposing a ban on the sale of Huawei and ZTE telecoms equipment since 2019 due to concerns about Chinese espionage. The last time it was done was by the Joe Biden administration at the end of 2022. At that time, the licensing of new equipment was vetoed "because it poses an unacceptable risk to US national security".
Could Apple cooperate with the special services? If the 'requests' from them are legitimate (espionage is not among them), then yes. The US still remembers the scandal when the corporation has refused the FBI's seemingly legitimate requests to provide access to user data. The bureau's lawsuit did not help either.
This story happened back in 2015-2016. Islamic terrorists Syed Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik shot dead 14 people and wounded more than two dozen others in the Californian town of San Bernardino. The media called the attack the most egregious in the US since 11 September 2001. The attackers were killed. The FBI requested access to the phone data of one of the attackers from Apple.
The Bureau insisted that the history of calls, correspondence in messengers, and emails could point to other attackers and help prevent new attacks. The FBI asked to create a software solution that would remove the restriction on the number of password attempts. However, it was in vain. The corporation's response to all the demands was that the solution could set a dangerous precedent, as it would require Apple to weaken its own security system. However, the FBI did hack that phone. Whether they did it on their own or with the help of third-party hackers is not known.
Now Apple is following the same policy. "We believe security shouldn’t come at the expense of individual privacy. Apple has never created a backdoor or master key to any of our products or services. We have also never allowed any government direct access to Apple servers. And we never will." the company's website says. However, the company is ready to provide data to law enforcement requests, Apple clarifies.
What actually motivated the presidential administration of russia to dirt on Apple? There are several versions to consider. The news of the ban spread through the russian media just as Chinese President Xi Jinping was visiting russia. It was another bow to the 'friendly country'. If Huawei and ZTE are being kicked out of the US, why not make a symmetrical move or at least make a loud statement about it?
The second version is commonplace in russian reality. It is just another interesting project that can make good money. "Officials have been told to replace iPhones with Android smartphones (i.e., this not at all American Google product has been excluded from the list of spy enemies for some reason – Mind), its Chinese counterparts, or the russian Aurora... The presidential administration itself can purchase secure smartphones for employees," russian media reported.
The key word in these sentences is 'Aurora'. sergey kiriyenko has periodically been trolled by the russian media for 'siphoning off' hundreds of billions of rubles in this scheme. For reference: The Aurora OS can be called russian only conditionally. In 2016, the Open Mobile Platform (OMP) from russia bought a licence for the Finnish Sailfish OS and announced the start of development of its own russian system. Today, there are only six smartphone models based on Aurora: TaigaPhone, F+ R570, MIG C55, Qtech QMP-M1-N, Qtech QMP-M1-N IP, INOI R7. They are assembled in China. These gadgets are purchased for russian civil servants with a good markup.