The Ministry of Industry and Trade prohibits the use of the iPhone for work purposes

Ministry of Industry and Trade banned to its employees and subordinate organizations to use iPhone for work purposes. The corresponding order was sent to employees of the department on July 4, signed by First Deputy Minister Vasily Osmakov.

According to a source in one of the IT companies, similar measures will be taken in other major departments and regions.

The reason for the ban was information from the FSB that the American company Apple cooperates with the US NSA and violates the privacy of device users’ personal data. According to the intelligence service, several thousand Apple smartphones were infected with spyware that transmitted information from microphones, cameras, instant messengers and geolocation to remote servers. Among the victims of the attack were not only Russian citizens, but also employees of the diplomatic missions of various countries in Russia.

In addition, the Russian anti-virus software vendor Kaspersky Lab also confirmed the ability to infect devices through hidden iMessages, which allowed attackers to gain complete control over the device and user data on it.

The order expressly prohibits the use of Apple mobile devices, including phones and smartphones, in the course of business. The execution of the order will be controlled by Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade VV Shpak.

The representative of the Ministry of Industry and Trade confirmed the existence of such an order and noted that it was adopted in accordance with the recommendations of the regulator to protect information. He did not specify whether the ban applies to iPads made by Apple.

Among the organizations subordinated to the Ministry of Industry and Trade are the NRC “Institute named after. Zhukovsky”, FSUE NAMI, FSBI VNIIR and others.