Russian software firm unveils ‘surveillance-proof’ smartphone

For people who fear that someone may be eavesdropping on their phone conversations, leading IT entrepreneur Natalya Kaspersky says she has a solution. At a business forum in Moscow, Russia on Friday she presented ‘TaigaPhone’, a brand new smartphone created by InfoWatch Group, her software development company, costing around 15,000 rubles ($260). The ‘surveillance-proof’ phone […]

For people who fear that someone may be eavesdropping on their phone conversations, leading IT entrepreneur Natalya Kaspersky says she has a solution.

At a business forum in Moscow, Russia on Friday she presented ‘TaigaPhone’, a brand new smartphone created by InfoWatch Group, her software development company, costing around 15,000 rubles ($260).

The ‘surveillance-proof’ phone is designed for corporate use, and will have built-in privacy features that the firm claims will guarantee user confidentiality.

InfoWatch says the device can guarantee the confidentiality of all TaigaPhone users, track the location of each device and prevent information leakage. 

The firm wants to sell TaigaPhone to Russian companies at a cost of between 12,000 and 15,000 rubles (or, up to about $260).

It has a five-inch touchscreen, two SIM slots, and two cameras.

It’s now in the final stages of production. 

According to Taiga System, the phone is now in the final stages of production.

The TaigaPhone is entirely green to represent the Russian northern forest after which it is named.

It has a five-inch touchscreen, two SIM slots, and two cameras.

At between 12,000 and 15,000 rubles (up to around $260), the phone is nearly five times cheaper than the cost of an iPhone in Russia.

‘We have created it for the corporate market,’ said Kaspersky, president of InfoWatch Group and co-founder of Kaspersky Lab, Russia’s leading antivirus software development company which some believe may have links to Russian intelligence.

Kaspersky Lab has over the past months been at the centre of controversy in the United States.

The ‘surveillance-proof’ phone is designed for corporate use, and will have built-in privacy features that the firm claims will guarantee user confidentiality

In July, the US government removed Kaspersky from its list of approved vendors, weeks after top US intelligence agency and law enforcement officials expressed concerns about the safety of its software.

But no evidence has been presented to back up vague assertions that it might be a tool of Moscow, offering Russian spies back-door entry into computers worldwide.

The company has repeatedly denied working with any government agency.

The TaigaPhone is not the first Russian-made smartphone.