Microsoft tells employees in China to use iPhones and abandon Android

Microsoft employees in China are reportedly abandoning Android systems in favor of iPhones as part of the company’s cybersecurity measures.

Bloomberg, citing an internal memo, reports that from September, employees in China will be required to use Apple products to verify identities on work computers and phones. It is required to ensure that hundreds of employees in China use the Microsoft Authenticator password manager and Identity Pass app, Bloomberg reports. It is part of the tech giant’s global Secure Future initiative.

Google Play, the app store for Android, is not available in China, and domestic smartphone makers including Huawei and Xiaomi have their own platforms. Microsoft reportedly said it would block Android devices from accessing its enterprise platform because Google’s mobile services are not available in China. Employees using Android will receive the iPhone 15, and Apple devices will be available nationwide, including Hong Kong, according to the memo.

“The Microsoft Authenticator and Identity Pass apps are officially available in the Apple and Google Play stores,” a Microsoft spokesperson told Quartz in a statement. “Due to the lack of availability of Google Mobile Services in this region, we are working to provide employees with a way to access these required apps, such as an iOS device.”

Apple did not respond to a request for comment.

Charlie Bell, Microsoft’s vice president of security, said in April that the company “ground zero” for foreign-sponsored hackersThe Secure Future initiative was launched in November after numerous cybersecurity failures, including at the hands of hackers backed by the Chinese and Russian governments. In January, Microsoft Corporate email systems were attacked by Midnight Blizzardactor sponsored by the Russian state.

In June, Microsoft CEO Brad Smith told US lawmakers that the company “accepts responsibility for any” of its cybersecurity failures listed in government-backed reportIn April, the U.S. Cybersecurity Research Council (CSRB) determined that Chinese hackers known as Storm-558 had breached Microsoft Exchange Online email 22 organizations and over 500 people worldwideincluding senior U.S. government officials working on national security. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and R. Nicholas Burns, the U.S. ambassador to China, were among the government officials hacked.