While the Apple Watch was a common sight on the wrists of several cabinet members who attended meetings led by former U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, new PM Theresa May is said to have banned the Apple Watch due to fears that Russian spies could use them as listening devices.
One source told The Telegraph: “The Russians are trying to hack everything.”
The Verge reports a similar ban of the Apple Watch from Australian cabinet meetings as well.
“It has long been standard practice, on both sides of politics, that no electronic transmitting devices, including Apple Watches, be allowed in the cabinet room,” a spokesman for Cabinet Secretary Arthur Sinodinos said.
Alastair MacGibbon, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s special adviser on cybersecurity, said more attention needs to be paid to communications security, as more personal devices – everything from glasses to running shoes – would be connected to the internet in future.
“It has long been standard practice, on both sides of politics, that no electronic transmitting devices, including Apple Watches, be allowed in the cabinet room,” a spokesman for Cabinet Secretary Arthur Sinodinos said.
Such bans of the Apple Watch, and other connected devices, may become more commonplace, as concerns over state-sponsored hacker groups continues to grow. Recently, U.S. officials claimed state-sponsored Russian hackers were responsible for the release of confidential Democratic National Conference emails in the thick of the U.S. presidential election.
