Kremlin employees are given month to get rid of their iPhones

Employees of the Russian presidential administration have been instructed to replace iPhones with smartphones of other brands and with a different operating system by the end of March. 

Source: Russian news outlet Kommersant, referring to sources

Quote: "No more iPhones. Either throw them away or give them to your children. Everyone will have to do this in March."

Details: This information was brought to the attention of officials at a seminar for the Putin administration's domestic policy staff, which took place in early March in Moscow Oblast.

According to the news outlet’s sources, the requirement to abandon iPhones is related to security concerns. The Kremlin believes these gadgets are more susceptible to hacking and espionage by Western specialists compared to other smartphones.

Employees of Putin’s administration were advised to buy phones with Android operating systems, its Chinese counterparts, or Aurora OS [a Russian Linux-based smartphone operating system – ed.]. The latter was developed by the Russian company Open Mobile Platform, a subsidiary of PJSC [Public Joint Stock Company] Rostelecom.

Sources of the news outlet say that perhaps the Kremlin will even buy new "secure" phones for its employees to make it easier for them to abandon American technology.

It is also reported that regional domestic policy staff officials will also receive recommendations to get rid of iPhones.

Kommersant notes that the presidential administration’s conventional domestic policy staff comprises four departments: for domestic policy, for public projects, for providing State Council support, and for the development of information and communication technologies and communication infrastructure.

Employees of the first three departments will be engaged in the 2024 Russian presidential election campaign, preparations for which have already begun in early 2023. 

It is also reported that since the end of last year, the Russian government has been discussing with market participants the prospects for building a sovereign mobile ecosystem in Russia, based on technologies independent of Western IT giants. The Aurora OS was developed for this purpose.

According to the project's website, mobile devices running this OS are currently sold only to corporate and government customers.

This isn't the first time federal authorities have given recommendations to officials on their electronic communications. In the summer of 2022, Russian officials were advised to stop using Zoom in favour of the domestic Trueconf.

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