Russia claims Apple helping US spy on iPhone users

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has uncovered a US intelligence operation being conducted via a virus program on Apple mobile devices, the FSB’s public relations centre said on its website.

"The Federal Security Service, in conjunction with the Russian Federal Protective Service (FSO), has uncovered an intelligence operation by US intelligence agencies carried out with the use of mobile devices. In the course of securing Russian telecommunications infrastructure, anomalies characteristic only of Apple cell phone users and caused by previously unknown malicious software exploiting vulnerabilities in the manufacturer’s software were revealed," TASS quoted the news release as saying on June 1.

"It was established that several thousand handsets of this brand were infected. Alongside this, in addition to domestic subscribers, instances were revealed of the infection of foreign numbers and subscribers using SIM cards registered to diplomatic missions and embassies in Russia, including those of NATO member states and post-Soviet countries, as well as Israel, Syria and China," the FSB disclosed.

"The information obtained by the Russian special services demonstrates close cooperation between Apple and the [US] national intelligence community, in particular the US NSA [National Security Agency], and confirms that Apple’s declared policy of ensuring the privacy of the personal data of users of Apple devices does not correspond to reality," the FSB stressed.

"The company provides US intelligence services with a wide range of opportunities to monitor both anyone of interest to the White House, including their partners in anti-Russian activities, and their own citizens," the FSB said.