NSA hacked iPhones, claims Russia
Reuters reports that the claim was made by the FSB – the successor to the Soviet-era KGB.
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Thursday it had uncovered a U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) plot using previously unknown malware to access specially made so-called backdoor vulnerabilities in Apple phones.
The FSB […] said that several thousand Apple phones had been infected, including those of domestic Russian subscribers.
The Russian spy agency also said telephones belonging to foreign diplomats based in Russia and the former Soviet Union, including those from NATO members, Israel, Syria and China, had been targetted […]
The FSB said the plot showed the close relationship between Apple and the NSA.
The report implies that it’s possible phone-hacking was the source of intelligence on the invasion of Ukraine.
Shortly after Russia sent its troops into Ukraine last year, U.S. and British spies claimed a scoop by uncovering – and going public with – intelligence that President Vladimir Putin was planning to invade. It is still unclear how that intelligence was gained.
Earlier this year, the Russian government told its own officials to stop using iPhones, with a deadline of April 1. Putin has said that he doesn’t use any kind of smartphone.
