Microsoft staff in China have been informed that, starting from September, they must use an iPhone for authentication when logging into company systems. The use of Android smartphones as multi-factor authentication devices will be banned. This decision will create a situation where an Apple device will be required, despite staff using Windows PCs.
Microsoft Secure Future Initiative
This move is part of the Microsoft Secure Future Initiative, first announced late last year. CEO Satya Nadella and other senior executives have put significant thought into anticipating and adapting to increasingly sophisticated cyber threats. They have carefully considered observations across Microsoft and feedback from customers, governments, and partners to identify the greatest opportunities to impact the future of security.
As a result, Microsoft has committed to three specific areas of engineering advancement:
1. Transforming Software Development
2. Implementing New Identity Protections
3. Driving Faster Vulnerability Response
These advances comprise what Microsoft calls the Secure Future Initiative.
Multi-Factor Authentication Requirement
Microsoft requires staff to log in to work systems using a smartphone and two Microsoft apps for multi-factor authentication. According to an internal memo reviewed by Bloomberg News, staff in China have been informed that they will only be allowed to run these apps on an iPhone in the future.
"The US company will soon require Chinese-based employees to use only Apple devices to verify their identities when logging in to work computers or phones," states the memo. This measure, part of Microsoft's global Secure Future Initiative, will affect hundreds of workers across the Chinese mainland and is intended to ensure that all staff use the Microsoft Authenticator password manager and Identity Pass app.
Security Concerns
The concern reflects uncertainties around the security of both Chinese-designed hardware and local app stores. Staff who do not own an iPhone will be given an iPhone 15.
Additional Notes
Perhaps the company should also ban employees from using the company’s Recall AI feature if it ever relaunches. This feature, launched in May as a headline new feature of the company’s new AI-powered PCs, was quickly condemned by security experts and later indefinitely delayed.
