Microsoft require its employees in China to only use iPhones due to the improved security features.
This step is part of a comprehensive overhaul of cybersecurityThe project, known internally as the Secure Future Initiative, follows Microsoft subjected to a thorough examination for his subpar security practices. Microsoft’s new policy, which takes effect in September, means employees in China will only be allowed to use iPhones for work, as first reported by BloombergThe new regulation is intended to effectively limit the number of Android phones used by Chinese Microsoft employees.
Microsoft will now require its employees to confirm their identity and use two-factor authentication when logging into their work phone.
Microsoft had to ask its employees to use iPhones only for work because certain security apps such as Microsoft Authenticator and the Identity Pass app were not available on any other operating system in China. In the US and other countries, these two apps are also available on Google Play. But Google Play is not available in China, which means that Microsoft employees can only download the relevant security apps via a Apple iPhones.
“Due to the lack of availability of Google Mobile Services in this region, we want to provide employees with a way to access these required apps, such as an iOS device,” a Microsoft spokesperson said. Assets in an email.
Employees in China who do not have an iPhone will receive one from Microsoft, according to Bloomberg.
Chinese Android phones from companies like Huawei and Xiaomi operate their own platforms. Microsoft’s ban on Chinese smartphones is emblematic of a diverging digital ecosystem between China and the US, where the two governments and the major corporations that work with them are becoming increasingly cautious about granting the other side access to confidential materials.
China has its own search engines and social media platforms on which US giants such as Facebook are forbidden. Internet censors are legendary for their breadth and severity. In the USA, the White House has now limited exports of the most modern semiconductor technology to Chinese companies. And the Congress a law passed that would force the sale of the Chinese TikTok to an American buyer Issue The social media platform could be used to Influence on public opinion.
Cybersecurity became a top priority for Microsoft after it was discovered that its cloud systems attacked by state-backed Chinese hackers last year. The Cyber Attack The hack came ahead of Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s visit to Beijing in June 2023 and further escalated tensions between the US and China. The hack raised major doubts about Microsoft’s security practices. In April, a federal agency released a scathing report finding that “Microsoft’s security culture was inadequate.”
In March, a US federal court Charges against a group of Chinese hackers for a separate series of cyberattacks that took place in 2018. The Chinese embassy in Washington DC said the allegations were unfounded. “Without any solid evidence, the US has jumped to an unjustified conclusion and made unfounded accusations against China,” Liu Pengyu, an embassy spokesman, said at the time.
As relations between the US and China become increasingly strained, both sides have sought to secure each other’s cyber capabilities with firewalls. Since 2023, Chinese state-backed companies have instructed their employees to no longer use foreign smartphones from manufacturers such as Apple and SamsungMeanwhile, China has tried to monitor parts of the United States using its own clandestine methods. Early last year, China sent several Spy balloons to the USA Electric vehicles and connected cars are also in the crosshairsas a covert way to monitor Americans. The Biden administration is consider a ban of all Chinese smart cars after a national security investigation found that they collect data on passengers and use external sensors to gather information about US infrastructure. A recent Assets Investigation noted that China’s self-driving cars have already traveled 1.8 million miles on American roads.
These tensions have only increased after report A report released on Tuesday by an Australian-led consortium of intelligence agencies, including representatives from the United States, Britain, Japan and Germany, details repeated cyberattacks by China’s top intelligence agency.