Apple has denied allegations made by the Russian domestic intelligence service FSB that the American National Security Agency (NSA) used specialized malware to infiltrate thousands of iPhones in Russia. The FSB had previously announced on its website that it had discovered “previously unknown malware” that exploited “Apple built-in” vulnerabilities. The espionage was uncovered by the Presidential Security Service FSO while taking measures to better secure Russia’s telecommunications infrastructure. The devices affected had SIM cards registered with diplomatic missions and embassies, including those from NATO countries, ex-Soviet republics, Israel, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and China.
The Russian secret service accuses Apple of being an “accomplice” of the NSA and helping the US to monitor people of interest. It does not matter whether they are people from partner countries. In the past, there had been open conflicts between Apple and the American federal police authority, the FBI, over access to iPhones. Apple recently secured iCloud much better and, for the first time, also encrypted backups on its servers end-to-end, which have long been considered an important data source for authorities.
Since Edward Snowden’s revelations, it has been known that the NSA is trying to get data as directly as possible. The Russian cybersecurity provider, Kaspersky, published details of a very complex type of attack on iPhones shortly after the FSB information. The attack is no longer possible with the latest version of iOS, but allowed “infection bypassing the user”. Among other things, the malware allegedly prevented updates from being installed and was brought to the device via an infected iMessage.
Apple’s statement, denying the allegations, said that it had “never worked with any government to add a backdoor to any Apple product” and would “never” do so. The short statement was distributed by the Reuters news agency. Apple’s statements about the security of its devices are not wrong, and it should be noted that the FSB’s claims have yet to be independently verified.
