Russian FSB Uncovers U.S. Intelligence Operation to Inject Spyware on iPhones

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) claims it uncovered a U.S. intelligence operation being conducted using previously unknown malware to access specially made so-called backdoor vulnerabilities in Apple.

"The Federal Security Service, in conjunction with the Russian Federal Protective Service (FSO), has uncovered an intelligence operation by U.S. intelligence agencies carried out with the use of mobile devices. In the course of securing Russian telecommunications infrastructure, anomalies characteristic only of Apple cell phone users and caused by previously unknown malicious software exploiting vulnerabilities in the manufacturer’s software were revealed," the FSB public relations center said in a statement.

The Russian spy agency said “several thousand handsets of this brand were infected.” It alleged that “foreign numbers and subscribers using SIM cards registered to diplomatic missions and embassies in Russia, including those of NATO member states and post-Soviet countries, as well as Israel, Syria and China," had been targeted.

The FSB said the plot “demonstrates close cooperation between Apple and the [U.S.] national intelligence community, in particular the U.S. National Security Agency.”

“(It) confirms that Apple’s declared policy of ensuring the privacy of the personal data of users of Apple devices does not correspond to reality," the FSB further claimed.

"The company provides U.S. intelligence services with a wide range of opportunities to monitor both anyone of interest to the White House, including their partners in anti-Russian activities, and their own citizens," the FSB said.