CIA hacked iPhones of diplomats in Russia – FSB

 

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) claims it has uncovered a major CIA surveillance operation using iPhones

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The CIA installed malware on thousands of Apple phones used by Russian citizens and foreign diplomats working in the country, Federal Security Service (FSB) has claimed.

The FSB said on Thursday that a joint operation with the Federal Guard Service (FSO) had “uncover[ed] a surveillance operation by American intelligence agencies, carried out with the use of Apple’s mobile devices.”

An assessment of Russia’s telecom infrastructure revealed “anomalies” in the operations of the iPhones, caused by “a previously unknown malicious program that uses software vulnerabilities provided by the manufacturer,” a statement by the agency read.

Several thousand phones made by Apple have been infected with the malware, according to the FSB.

Not only Russian citizens were targeted, but also “foreign phone numbers and subscribers that use SIM cards registered with diplomatic missions and embassies inside Russia, including countries from the NATO bloc and the post-Soviet space, as well Israel, Syria and China,” it said.

The discovery is more proof of the close cooperation between Apple and the US intelligence community, the FSB claimed. It also confirms that “the declared policy of ensuring the privacy of personal data of Apple users has nothing to do with reality,” the agency added.

The FSB also accused Apple of “providing the American intelligence services with a wide range of opportunities to survey any persons of interest to the White House, including their partners in anti-Russian activities, as well as their own citizens.”

https://www.rt.com/russia/577273-cia-hack-iphone-diplomats/