Russia bans its officials from using iPhones for fear of surveillance

Allegations of espionage between the United States and Russia are as old as history, and now Vladimir Putin’s government has Apple at gunpoint. As reported Financial TimesRussian Federal Security Service (FSB) banned thousands of state employees from using the iPhone and other Apple devices as official means of communication.

The body, the successor to the old Soviet KGB, claims that Apple helped the US National Security Agency (NSA) develop spy infrastructure in Russia through its gadgets. The accusation is not new, but the latest measures are stricter than those envisaged so far.

As of this Monday, employees working in key areas can no longer use an iPhone, iPad, or Mac as a “work device”. The measure is already in place at the Ministry of Trade, the Ministry of Digital Development and the state technology company Rostec. It is expected that soon the blockade will be adopted in the ministries of economy and energy.

The Russian government’s ban on the iPhone and other Apple products is a policy that has been under scrutiny for some time due to espionage concerns. In fact, the FSB would have already recommended this measure in the past. However, one expert said Financial Times who, since the Putin administration, had previously opposed this restriction “simply because they liked their iPhones”.

iPhone under the gun of Russia on suspicion of espionage

Since March last year, Russia has begun voicing concerns about the alleged use of the iPhone as a spy tool by the United States. In the same month, the Kremlin partially vetoed the use of an Apple mobile phone as an official device. However, the measure only affected officials involved in preparations for the 2024 presidential election.

However, it was in early June that the FSB raised the stakes, accusing the people of Cupertino of create “backdoors” on your devices. Russian intelligence said it had evidence that the iPhones of several of its employees were compromised for covert data collection. A vulnerability that allegedly also affected Russian diplomats serving in NATO countries, Syria, Israel and China.

Curiously in this case, it is still not clear how effective a ban on the use of the iPhone as an official mobile phone in Russia will be. Rostec employees pointed out that, despite the blockade as a means of labor, they can still use the Apple smartphone and other brand products for personal use.. A provision that is certainly flawed if it is meant to insulate the Kremlin from any attempt at American espionage.

It would not be unusual for the allegations against Apple and the United States to be part of a larger move by Russia. In particular, an attempt to eliminate dependence on foreign technologies in various areas of public administration. What Vladimir Putin himself proposed as part of his strategy transition to local software solutions in critical sectors — finance, science, healthcare, etc. — since 2025