Following a claim from Russia’s FSB, the Russian trade ministry has ordered government officials to stop using Apple devices in their workplaces.
An order of a similar kind is prevalent in a couple of Russian agencies already but now has expanded to all units. Although, government officials can use Apple products for personal use. This aligns with Russia’s intent of relying less on foreign infrastructure.
Banned For Spying Reasons
Russia is taking another step to show it’s disbelief against the US by banning Apple devices at it’s government offices. As per the Financial Times, Russia’s trade ministry on Monday passed an order to prohibit the use of Apple devices in government offices.
This comes a month after the Russian Federal Intelligence Bureau(FSB) accused the US of a “spying operation” involving Apple devices. The agency claimed that thousands of iPhones, including those used by the country’s diplomatic missions in NATO countries, had been “infected” with monitoring software.
Further, it accused Apple of working closely with the US signal intelligence to provide agents “with a wide range of control tools” – without showing any evidence. Thus, Apple brushed off these claims and said they had “never worked with any government to build a backdoor into any Apple product and never will”.
Yet, the Russian government has decided to ban Apple products at it’s workplaces. Well, two other Russian departments – telecommunications and mass media ministries have already banned or have similar plans against Apple products at offices. Although, they let government officials use Apple devices for personal use.
This aligns with the country’s ideology of lessening the dependence on foreign-made technology and President Vladimir Putin’s order to migrate the institutions with “critical information infrastructure” to domestically developed software by 2025.
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