Presidential Administration Tightens Smartphone Policy for Officials
Russian President’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov acknowledged that he could not confirm reports about a ban on iPhones within the presidential administration. He spoke to reporters to explain the position.
He stated that smartphones cannot be used for official purposes, describing them as transparent devices. According to his account, smartphones should not handle negotiations or the transmission of official information.
Earlier, members of the internal political bloc within the administration were ordered to dispose of iPhone devices by April 1 of the current year due to security concerns.
According to sources in this publication, AP staff members in March were instructed to either discard their iPhones or return them for replacement. During a seminar, a debate emerged about whether such a measure was necessary at that time, but Sergey Kiriyenko, the first deputy head of the Presidential Administration, ended the discussion and set the April 1 deadline for the conversion away from iPhone hardware. The directive applied to Apple devices within the administration.
The warning is tied to assessments from security experts who argue that these smartphones can be more vulnerable to hacking and surveillance by foreign actors compared to other brands. Consequently, AP personnel were advised to consider alternatives such as Android devices, devices from Chinese manufacturers, or Russia’s Aurora operating system. (AP, sources familiar with the matter)