The FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, said several thousand Apple phones had been infected, including those of Russian subscribers.

Neither Apple nor the NSA immediately responded to emailed requests for comment.

The Russian spy agency also said phones belonging to foreign diplomats based in Russia and the former Soviet Union, including those from Israel, Syria, China and NATO member countries, had been targeted.

“The FSB has uncovered an intelligence action by US special services using Apple mobile devices,” the FSB said in a statement.

According to the Cyber ​​Power Index 2022 from the Belfer Center at Harvard University, the United States is the first cyber power in the world in terms of intentions and capabilities, followed by China, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States, and Australia.

IS THE UNITED STATES TURNING A DEAF EAR?

The FSB said the plot showed “close cooperation” between Apple and the NSA, the US intelligence and security agency for US cryptography and communications.

Both the Kremlin and the Russian Foreign Ministry have stressed the importance of this case.

“The hidden data collection was carried out through software vulnerabilities in US-made cell phones,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“US intelligence services have for decades used computer companies to collect data on Internet users on a large scale without their knowledge,” the department added.

The FSB said the plot was uncovered as part of a joint initiative by its agents and those of the Federal Guard Service (FSO), a powerful agency that operates the Kremlin’s bodyguard and was once the KGB’s ninth leadership.

Russian authorities, who Western spies say have a highly sophisticated internal surveillance structure, have long questioned the safety of American technology.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said everyone in the presidential administration knew that devices like iPhones were “absolutely transparent.”

“The use of these devices for official purposes is unacceptable and prohibited,” Peskov said, adding that officials were free to use iPhones for private and unofficial communications.

TELEPHONE ESPIONAGE

Putin has always said that he does not have a smartphone, although the Kremlin says that the former KGB spy uses the Internet on time.

The Russian warning about Apple phones came hours before Moscow-based antivirus firm Kaspersky Lab released a report saying an undisclosed number of its staff had their iPhones compromised during an “extremely dangerous cyberattack.” complex and professionally run.

According to Kaspersky, the spyware, delivered via an invisible message, installed itself through vulnerabilities in the iOS operating system, and then the information on the phone was transmitted to remote servers.

Kaspersky said the digital espionage campaign was targeting the company’s “middle and upper management” and published a white paper describing how the malware worked.

The company did not immediately respond to emails and phone calls seeking comment on the timeliness of the report or whether it was related to the FSB alert.

Earlier this year, the Kremlin asked officials involved in the preparations for Russia’s 2024 presidential election to stop using Apple iPhones because they feared the devices would be vulnerable to Western intelligence agencies, according to the Kommersant newspaper.