FSB accuses NSA of hacking thousands of Apple phones for spying

Nga tố Mỹ xâm nhập hàng nghìn điện thoại Apple để do thám - Ảnh 1. — Russia accuses US government agency of hacking thousands of iPhones

In a statement released on June 1, the FSB said several thousand Apple phones had been infected with malware, including phones of domestic Russian subscribers. Phones of foreign diplomats in Russia and the former Soviet Union, including diplomats from NATO member states, Israel, Syria and China, were also attacked, the FSB said.

"FSB has detected an intelligence operation by US special services using Apple mobile devices," Reuters quoted the FSB as saying. The Russian security agency alleged that the development showed close ties between Apple and the NSA, the US agency responsible for intelligence and cryptographic and communications security.

Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on the same day that the hidden data collection was carried out through software vulnerabilities in US-made mobile phones.

"US intelligence agencies have been using IT corporations for decades to collect large-scale data on internet users without their knowledge," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Neither Apple nor the NSA immediately commented on the allegations.

In a related development, not long after the FSB's announcement, Russian security company Kaspersky said on the same day that the iPhones of some of its employees had been attacked with malware. The number of phones affected is currently unknown.

Russian officials have long questioned the security of American technology products. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has always said he does not own a smartphone, although the Kremlin says the former spy occasionally uses the internet.

Earlier this year, the Kremlin asked officials involved in preparations for Russia's 2024 presidential election to stop using Apple iPhones, over concerns that the devices were vulnerable to attacks by Western intelligence agencies, Kommersant reported.

At a conference organized by the Kremlin for domestic officials, Sergei Kiriyenko, first deputy chief of staff of the Russian presidential administration, asked officials to replace their phones by April 1, according to Kommersant .

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