Not so long ago, Russian government officials had been using iPads in their work. But that’s history now: They have ditched the Apple tablets for Samsung devices to “ensure tighter security,” the telecoms minister told the AFP on Wednesday.
The move, however, doesn’t seem to have any connection with the Western sanctions imposed over Russia’s takeover of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula, at least according to telecoms minister Nikolai Nikiforov.
He said the Samsung devices are “specially protected devices that can be used to work with confidential information.”
“Some of the information at government meetings is confidential in nature and these devices fully meet these demands and have gone through the strictest system of certification.”
However, he did let it slip that the Russian government will pay more attention in choosing the right IT partner, meaning they will be picky from now on, because the American special services “will significantly increase the volume of information they intercept.” This obviously causes “serious concern to many governmental clients.”
From this perspective, South Korean and Chinese firms will have an advantage over US companies, so it seems.
