MOSCOW. June 1 (Interfax) - Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has reported uncovering an operation conducted by U.S. security services in which several thousand Apple devices in Russia were infected with malware.
"The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, working together with the Russian Federal Guard Service, has uncovered an intelligence operation by U.S. security services which uses mobile devices made by Apple [U.S.]," the FSB said.
"Anomalies that are characteristic exclusively for users of Apple mobile phones, which were caused by previously unknown malware exploiting software vulnerabilities set by the manufacturer, have been detected," the FSB said.
"It appears that several thousand phones of this brand have been infected. Besides domestic subscribers, cases of infection have also been detected among foreign numbers and subscribers using sim cards registered to diplomatic missions and embassies in Russia, including NATO member states, former Soviet countries, Israel, the Central African Republic and China," it said.
The information obtained "proves [that there is] close cooperation between the U.S. company Apple and the national intelligence community, including the U.S. NSA, and that the declared policy of confidentiality of personal data for Apple device users is untrue," the FSB said.
"The company provides U.S. security services with a broad range of opportunities to control any persons of interest to the White House, including their partners in anti-Russian activity and their own citizens," it said.