To improve cybersecurity, Microsoft in China will ban Android devices around its area.
Image Source: Microsoft
As reported by Bloomberg, Microsoft employees working in China must shift their devices from Android to iPhone since Microsoft is concerned about security issues on Android, especially the CVE-2024-32896 case.
Android suffered a critical security vulnerability with codename CVE-2024-32896
In late June 2024, any Google Pixel workers in the US government or Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) must update their device before July 4; otherwise, they can’t use their Google Pixel until they have updated software.
CVE-2024-32896 is a security vulnerability that allows crackers to bypass the privilege without requiring additional permission by abusing the logical error in the user interaction settings.
The security patch has already been released since late June. The download should begin automatically, but users must restart their phone after fully downloading the patch to finish the update completely.
Unfortunately, non-Pixel users will suffer more because that update is only available for Google Pixel. The CVE-2024-32896 security patch for other Android phones is unlikely to come until Android 15 comes out (as a reminder, the stable version of Android 14 just came on October 4, 2023).
Russian managed to hack US government emails with Microsoft
On January 12, 2024; the Microsoft security team detected a nation-state attack that had the potential to attack their security system. That threat was the Russian Group Nobelium, which is identified as Midnight Blizzard.
Midnight Blizzard is the identity name by Microsoft for Russian Hackers Group Nobelium (Image source: Microsoft)
In March, 2024; CNBC reported the Russian Group Nobelium increased the volume of the specific sections, such as the password sprays, by as much as 10-fold. So far there was no evidence the hacker group accessing the customer data, production system, or Microsoft’s proprietary source code.
And on Thursday, April 11, 2024; the Russian Group Nobelium managed to steal email correspondence between US government agencies and Microsoft, which Microsoft confirms. The CISA (Certified Information Systems Auditor) released an “emergency directive” that ordered civilian agencies to improve their security credentials. CISA stated the potential of login credentials exposure as an “unacceptable risk to agencies.”
Chinese employees have time to shift until August 2024
in September 2024, all Windows employees in China must already 100% use iPhone or Apple devices. This iPhone will become mandatory for any verifications on work machines. To speed up device shifting, Windows also offers iPhone 15 as the one-time purchase for any workers across China, including Hong Kong.
Google apps are not available in China
Due to the heavy censorship in China since 2010, most Google apps, such as Google Maps, Google Pay, Google Play. Google News, Gmail (that means you cannot create email based on Google), etc.
Although most Chinese smartphones like Huawei and Xiaomi provide most Google apps for international users, Chinese people still can’t use these Google apps even though these smartphones are made in the same country. Chinese people can only use local apps made in China.
For social media, they use WeChat, QQ, Weibo, and Xiaohongshu.
For payment, they only use WeChat Pay and AliPay.
To fulfill entertainment purposes, they use Youku, Tencent Video, Mango TV, BiliBili, and even the most popular app called Tiktok, was renamed into Douyin.
There are other apps made by China besides those mentioned in this article, but some of them are unavaible for international users.
Popular Apps in China (Image source: China Educational Tours)
iOS 18 is predicted to be available in Fall 2024
Apple already announced they were developing the new version of iOS and MacOS software, which are called iOS 18 and MacOS Sequoia, in WWDC 2024. Aside from new features like hiding apps and theme customization in iOS 18, the Password app, which is available on both iPhone and Mac, will become a core feature to implement for Windows in China. Not to mention, Apple also released iOS Beta 3 on July 8, 2024.
Closing Words
By switching from Android to iPhone, Microsoft in China may have a better future, especially on security features. Cybercrime is a very serious threat, and it also causes huge losses for most people and the country. Microsoft is committed to strengthening its network and security to bring customers to the best services. And whenever a similar issue happens again, Microsoft will take action immediately.
