MOSCOW, June 1 — Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced on Thursday that it had uncovered an American espionage operation compromising thousands of iPhones using sophisticated surveillance software. The FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, stated that several thousand Apple Inc (AAPL.O) devices had been infected, including those of domestic Russian subscribers, foreign diplomats based in Russia, and individuals in the former Soviet Union.
Moscow-based cybersecurity firm, Kaspersky Lab, reported that several of its senior employees’ devices were among those compromised in the operation. According to the FSB, the operation revealed “close cooperation” between Apple and the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), which is responsible for cryptographic and communications intelligence and security.
Russia’s Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) published an alert on its website, referring to research by Kaspersky Lab. The cybersecurity firm announced that “an extremely complex, professionally targeted cyberattack” had targeted an undisclosed number of employees in “top and middle-management.”
The FSB claimed that the American spy operation had ensnared diplomats from Israel, Syria, China, and NATO members in the espionage campaign. Chinese, Israeli, and NATO representatives were not immediately able to provide comment.
U.S. Cyber Power and Russian Concerns
The United States is the world’s top cyber power in terms of intent and capability, according to Harvard University’s Belfer Center Cyber 2022 Power Index, followed by China, Russia, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Both the Kremlin and Russia’s foreign ministry emphasized the significance of the matter.
Russia’s foreign ministry stated, “The hidden data collection was carried out through software vulnerabilities in U.S.-made mobile phones,” accusing U.S. intelligence services of using IT corporations for decades to collect large-scale data on internet users without their knowledge.
Russian officials said the plot had been uncovered as part of a joint effort by FSB officers and the Federal Guards Service (FSO), a powerful agency that runs the Kremlin bodyguard and was once the KGB’s Ninth Directorate.
Officials in Russia, which Western spies say has constructed a very sophisticated domestic surveillance structure, have long questioned the security of U.S. technology. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that all officials in the presidential administration knew that gadgets such as iPhones were “absolutely transparent.”
“Using them for official purposes is unacceptable and prohibited,” Peskov added, noting that officials were free to use iPhones for private, non-official communication. Russian President Vladimir Putin has always said he has no smartphone, though the Kremlin has acknowledged the former KGB spy does use the internet from time to time.
Phone Spyware Details
Kaspersky Lab discovered the digital espionage campaign after detecting anomalous traffic in its corporate Wi-Fi network. The firm said the spyware was delivered by an invisible message that exploited vulnerabilities in Apple’s iOS operating system. Information from the phone would then be sent to remote servers.
Kaspersky found traces of infection dating back to 2019 and stated, “As of the time of writing in June 2023, the attack is ongoing.” The company added that while its staff was impacted, “we are quite confident that Kaspersky was not the main target of this cyberattack.” Kaspersky promised more updates in the coming days.
Although neither Russian officials nor Kaspersky has provided evidence that Apple knew about the alleged spying or cooperated with it, the revelation is likely to deepen suspicions about Apple in Russia. Earlier this year, the Kremlin instructed officials involved in preparations for Russia’s 2024 presidential election to stop using Apple iPhones, citing concerns that the devices are vulnerable to Western intelligence agencies, as reported by the Kommersant newspaper.
