An invulnerable smartphone is being created for officials – Kommersant FM
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A line of officials lined up for the new “cyberimmune” smartphone—that’s how Kaspersky Lab announced their interest in their new device. The gadget will soon appear on the market, the head of the company, Evgeny Kaspersky, said in an interview with RIA Novosti. He did not give exact release dates, but added that the smartphone will be invulnerable to hackers and will be able to replace the iPhone for government employees. The businessman clarified that the company does not plan to produce the device itself, but is only developing an operating system with software.
According to Kaspersky, “when the “filling” is ready, it can be very quickly installed on absolutely any piece of hardware.” How safe and functional can such a device be? And will the gadget become the new iPhone for officials? “Kommersant FM” discussed these questions with blogger Valentin Petukhov (Wylsacom):
“It could be something between a corporate and a secure smartphone. Filter for certain sites, additional protection when opening some links from instant messengers or from mail. Most likely, there is also an administrator who can configure access levels. For some, installing applications may not be available or they may have to go through several verification factors. Thus, an official, through stupidity or carelessness, will not be able to install any spyware or virus-infected software. Of course, a secure smartphone means logging, with which you can find out what the user did on the device and track its navigation history.
I think it will be something like its own shell on the Android platform, which can be installed on different smartphones directly from the factory. Such a system does not require large capacities. But if it’s Android, then it’s almost any smartphone. Then they just need to choose the right device if they want to do everything in one. That is, software plus hardware is a fairly flexible model. Because the operating system today is not only the work of the gadget, but also services and software. Without this, a smartphone ceases to be a smartphone.
It would be more interesting to enter into partnerships with some manufacturers and concentrate on software development. Therefore, I have little faith that they are creating something new; this is a story about compromises. But overall it’s a working design. One gets the impression that a trend is being played here. For some reason, it has become fashionable to ban iPhones for officials. China is going through the same story now. The only thing is that now it’s like in Krylov’s fable – who goes where. Many companies have stated that they are making a Russian operating system based on Android. All of them, frankly speaking, are very niche at this stage. In the case of a smartphone, this is a high price; in the case of the Aurora system, this is a significant lag behind the market realities. It’s as if, without finishing one story, they begin another. It is clear that these are commercial companies, they are trying to conquer the market. But time plays a key role here.”
At the same time, retailers are recording a decline in interest in domestic smartphones. According to Marvel Distribution estimates, in the first quarter their sales dropped by more than half year-on-year. Analysts noted that Russian gadgets cannot compete with Chinese ones. Domestic developments have potential only within the framework of government orders, says Sergei Vilyanov, leading analyst at the Fintech Lab accelerator:
“I don’t think there will be a line. Rather, there is a queue of people wanting to make a smartphone for officials. Because this is a very appetizing market segment for many years to come. No one will strictly count money there. There is also an element of prestige. This market is not only and not so much Russian, but also Asia, Arab countries, officials from friendly countries, who are also beginning to slowly abandon American platforms.
I think that in the end, as always happens, two suppliers will be selected who will do this. But the question of who exactly is still open, obviously, the mysterious “R-FON” was pushing ahead, and now the Kaspersky platform has appeared. You cannot leave one player in such a market, because this always slows down development and creates scope for incorrect manipulations. Of course, such a smartphone will never go to the mass market, because any Chinese device is already ahead of all this from a user point of view.”
Russian officials began to be banned from using iPhones for official purposes last summer. Now the ban on Apple equipment also applies to employees of the Ministry of Education of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Digital Development, Rostec and the Central Election Commission.
Previously, the FSB accused the American manufacturer of working closely with the US National Security Agency. According to Russian intelligence services, they jointly organized an attack on thousands of iPhones of Russian government employees.
Everything is clear with us – Telegram channel “Kommersant FM”.
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