Photo: IC

The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Thursday that it had disclosed a reconnaissance operation by US intelligence agencies involving several thousand Apple gadgets, including those registered with foreign embassies in Russia.

"A reconnaissance action by US intelligence agencies, conducted using Apple mobile devices, has been uncovered. In the course of ensuring the security of the Russian telecommunications infrastructure, anomalies were identified that are specific only to users of Apple mobile phones and are caused by the operation of previously unknown malicious software that uses software vulnerabilities provided by the manufacturer," the FSB said in a statement, adding that "several thousand phones were used."

In addition to domestic subscribers, "foreign numbers and subscribers using SIM cards registered with diplomatic missions and embassies in Russia" were affected, the statement read.

The information obtained by the FSB points to Apple's close cooperation with the US intelligence community and confirms that "the company's declared privacy policy is not true," the security service added.