NATO trusts the iPhone: It is the first commercial phone that is licensed for sensitive data

A turning point for commercial devices

This approval represents a significant milestone because it refers to devices that are available to every user in free sale. Until now, working with classified information in military and government environments has been exclusively done by specialized, expensive, custom-designed devices. Apple, as they claim, has proven that the security architecture built into their products is robust enough to meet strict international standards. The devices are now officially included in the NATO Information Assurance Product Catalog (NIAPC), which confirms their compliance with the security requirements of all 32 member states. Ivan Krsti, Apple’s vice president for security engineering and architecture, emphasized the importance of this achievement.

​- This achievement confirms that Apple has transformed the way security has traditionally been delivered. Before the iPhone, secure devices were only available to sophisticated government and business organizations after huge investments in custom security solutions. Instead, Apple has built the most secure devices in the world for all its users, and these same protections are now uniquely certified according to the requirements of the NATO alliance, unlike any other device in the industry – said Krstić in communication.

Strict German verification as the basis of approval

The road to NATO certification began in Germany. Before this global approval, the iPhone and iPad alreadyć have been given the go-ahead to handle classified German government data. That process was led by the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), which conducted extensive technical tests and in-depth security analysis. Based on these rigorous checks, it has been confirmed that Apple’s devices also meet the strict operational requirements of NATO. The president of BSI, Claudia Plattner, emphasized the importance of incorporating safety from the very beginning of product development.

​- Secure digital transformation is only successful if information security is taken into account from the very beginning of mobile product development. Following on from the rigorous review of the platform and security of iOS and iPadOS devices conducted by BSI for use in classified German information environments, we are pleased to confirm compliance with the requirements of the NATO alliance – said Plattner.

Keyč success and built-in security

The reason the iPhone and iPad can perform these tasks without additional modifications lies in Apple’s “security by design” approach. The overall protection is integrated at the level of hardware, software and the processor itself. Key elements analyzed by BSI include superior data encryption, biometric authentication through the Face ID system, and advanced hardware protection such as “Memory Integrity Enforcement” technology. It protects against a whole class of attacks based on memory abuse. A particularly important role is played by the so-called Secure Enclave, a separate co-processor within Apple’s devices that securely stores sensitive data such as encryption keys and biometrics. Approval also applies to the use of built-in applications such as Mail, Calendar and Contacts for secure access to data.