A handful of Chinese ministries have told employees to stop using Apple’s iPhones at work, citing national security risks amid heightened geopolitical tensions with the United States, according to several people familiar with the matter.
The orders were handed down in August to employees at ministries whose portfolios are focused on investment, trade and international affairs, according to five separate sources with knowledge of the situation.
The measures were understood to be aimed at eliminating perceived national security risks from using telecommunication devices made by a US company, sources said.
I think it makes sense theoretically, but the problem is that the Chinese alternatives are probably full of deliberate security holes which are needed to get information from everyone to the CCP but can also be used be other people to get information from the Chinese.
I’m sure the Government can go tell a company to remove the backdoors on Government devices:
But the higher ups still want to spy on the lower ones.
They can install the same management software that most companies around the globe put on their employee’s phones to track what their minions are doing on company hardware. You don’t need special backdoors for that.
How else will they track and punish every tiny expression of doubt?
Sounds interesting. Do you have a source?