Senior officials in the IDF are no longer allowed to use Android phones because of supposed security risks.
So this is interesting. Just weeks after Google’s campaign to promote Android as being more secure than iPhone, the smartphone battle has taken a sudden twist. The Israeli military has decided to ban Android phones for senior officers, on security grounds.
The news was broken by Israel’s Army Radio and picked up by The Jerusalem Post. “Under the expected order, commanders from the rank of lieutenant colonel and above will be permitted to use only iPhones for official communications. The step is aimed at reducing the risk of intrusions on senior officers’ handsets, according to the report.”
This is ironic because Google was reportedly ecstatic to be one of three US DoD approved smartphone brands along with the Apple and Samsung. As for why Samsung is on that list, I have no idea.
Is this an endorsement of the iPhone? Of course not. I’m betting that the Israeli government probably just wanted to standardize a smartphone with a locked down ecosystem. Of all the problems the Pixel has, security is not one of them.