The Ministry of Digital Affairs of the Russian Federation forbade employees to use iPhones and iPads for official purposes

Short description

Summarize this content to 100 words The Ministry of Digital Affairs of the Russian Federation has banned employees from using iPhones and iPads for official purposes to protect critical work information.”A ban on the use of Apple mobile devices, respectively smartphones and tablets, for access to work applications and access to work correspondence is introduced. No more restrictions will be introduced,” Maksut Shadayev, the head of the Ministry of Statistics, told the media.The head of the Ministry of Digitization explained that if it is not possible to use a phone with Android OS, then the employee of the department should use computer equipment to access e-mail and document management. There are no plans to buy Android OS gadgets for employees for work purposes, Shadayev added.”We do not plan to finance the purchase of personal devices to access work applications,” Shadayev explained. From the beginning of June 2023, in Rosaviatsia and subordinate structures of the State Department, in the Federal Tax Service (FNS), in the Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Federal Customs Service (FMS) of Russia, Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Energy, Rostec, OJSC “RZ” and the Ministry of Industry and Trade signed a ban on using any Apple equipment for work purposes, including the iPhone and Apple Watch. According to the orders of some state departments, their management in the field units must withdraw previously issued mobile devices from employees. State structures explained to the mass media that this decision was made in order to implement the country’s information security doctrine and to ensure protection and control over the circulation of official information.According to media sources, similar bans will soon be introduced in other large state-owned companies and departments, as well as in state structures in the regions. On June 1, 2023, the FSB of the Russian Federation reported that the department’s employees revealed the operations of American special services using Apple equipment, several thousand telephones of this brand were infected. Apple has commented on the allegations regarding the use of its devices for tracking. The company denies information from the FSB of the Russian Federation about spy software in its gadgets and claims that it does not work with US special services and does not monitor Russian users. At the end of June, Apple in the iOS 16.5.1 and iOS 15.7.7 updates closed two critical vulnerabilities found by Kaspersky Lab experts that allow infecting iPhones with malicious software called “Operation Triangulation”. Apple explained that the security patches prevent attackers from exploiting zero-day vulnerabilities that allow hackers to run arbitrary code on iPhones with kernel-level privileges on iOS versions prior to 15.7. At the end of July, Apple released iOS 16.6, as well as iPadOS 16.6, macOS Ventura 13.5, which fixes several critical vulnerabilities, including CVE-2023-38606, found by Kaspersky Lab specialists.

The Ministry of Digital Affairs of the Russian Federation forbade employees to use iPhones and iPads for official purposes

The Ministry of Digital Affairs of the Russian Federation has banned employees from using iPhones and iPads for official purposes to protect critical work information.

“A ban on the use of Apple mobile devices, respectively smartphones and tablets, for access to work applications and access to work correspondence is introduced. No more restrictions will be introduced,” Maksut Shadayev, the head of the Ministry of Statistics, told the media.

The head of the Ministry of Digitization explained that if it is not possible to use a phone with Android OS, then the employee of the department should use computer equipment to access e-mail and document management. There are no plans to buy Android OS gadgets for employees for work purposes, Shadayev added.

“We do not plan to finance the purchase of personal devices to access work applications,” Shadayev explained.


From the beginning of June 2023, in Rosaviatsia and subordinate structures of the State Department, in the Federal Tax Service (FNS), in the Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Federal Customs Service (FMS) of Russia, Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Energy, Rostec, OJSC “RZ” and the Ministry of Industry and Trade signed a ban on using any Apple equipment for work purposes, including the iPhone and Apple Watch. According to the orders of some state departments, their management in the field units must withdraw previously issued mobile devices from employees.

State structures explained to the mass media that this decision was made in order to implement the country’s information security doctrine and to ensure protection and control over the circulation of official information.

According to media sources, similar bans will soon be introduced in other large state-owned companies and departments, as well as in state structures in the regions.


On June 1, 2023, the FSB of the Russian Federation reported that the department’s employees revealed the operations of American special services using Apple equipment, several thousand telephones of this brand were infected.


Apple has commented on the allegations regarding the use of its devices for tracking. The company denies information from the FSB of the Russian Federation about spy software in its gadgets and claims that it does not work with US special services and does not monitor Russian users.


At the end of June, Apple in the iOS 16.5.1 and iOS 15.7.7 updates closed two critical vulnerabilities found by Kaspersky Lab experts that allow infecting iPhones with malicious software called “Operation Triangulation”. Apple explained that the security patches prevent attackers from exploiting zero-day vulnerabilities that allow hackers to run arbitrary code on iPhones with kernel-level privileges on iOS versions prior to 15.7.


At the end of July, Apple released iOS 16.6, as well as iPadOS 16.6, macOS Ventura 13.5, which fixes several critical vulnerabilities, including CVE-2023-38606, found by Kaspersky Lab specialists.

Related posts