PostHole
Compose
Login
A decade after US authorization, the iPhone is allowed to handle classified data for NATO
In a press release largely devoid of details as you'd expect given the topic, Apple has announced that the iPhone and iPad are the only consumer-grade devices that comply with NATO classified data safeguard guidance.
IPhone 17 Pro Max in Orange
The certification doesn't allow the iPhone to either put in-motion or store at-rest any level of classified data. Specifically, the devices, properly managed, are allowed to handle classified information up to the NATO restricted level without requiring special software or settings.
Apple says that on the whole, no other consumer mobile device has met this standard.
Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
News
A decade after US authorization, the iPhone is allowed to handle classified data for NATO
[Mike Wuerthele's profile picture]
Thu Feb 26 2026, 01:24 PM EST
2 minute read
IPhone 17 Pro Max in Orange
In a press release largely devoid of details as you'd expect given the topic, Apple has announced that the iPhone and iPad are the only consumer-grade devices that comply with NATO classified data safeguard guidance.
The certification doesn't allow the iPhone to either put in-motion or store at-rest any level of classified data. Specifically, the devices, properly managed, are allowed to handle classified information up to the NATO restricted level without requiring special software or settings.
Apple says that on the whole, no other consumer mobile device has met this standard.
"This achievement recognizes that Apple has transformed how security is traditionally delivered. Prior to iPhone, secure devices were only available to sophisticated government and enterprise organizations after a massive investment in bespoke security solutions," said Ivan Krstic, Apple's vice president of Security Engineering and Architecture. "Instead, Apple has built the most secure devices in the world for all its users, and those same protections are now uniquely certified under assurance requirements for NATO nations — unlike any other device in the industry."
This is not the first NATO-adjacent government-wide approval that the iPhone has been given. Apple's iPhone had the same approval in Germany, with the Federal Office for Information Security as the authorizing agency.
The certification is mostly a formality. Across the world, Apple products have been used to handle classified data, generally with specific authorization. This certification to NATO cuts through some of the red tape for approval to use on a project.
Apple hardware has been used to handle classified data in the US military for decades. While our US Navy vets on staff cannot and will not detail specifics, we can confirm that we've seen and used Apple devices shipped from the '90s to present in both US-only and NATO classified military operations.
Formal classification for the US military essentially started in 2013, when Apple's iOS 6 was granted FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standard) 140-2 level 1 validation, allowing use of the hardware similar to Thursday's mandate. There was a condition in most installations though — no Wi-Fi.
In many cases, for years after Steve Jobs' AirPort was mainstreamed into devices with discrete chipsets, versus a PCMCIA card, there were third-party vendors that specialized in removing wireless communication chips built into devices. This was done to control RF emissions to cut down on detectability, and potential for wireless hacking.
In 2013, then-President Barack Obama was not allowed to use an iPhone, and was forced to use a BlackBerry instead. That Presidential requirement changed in late 2015.
For a time, the Chinese government had an on-again off-again ban on iPhone use in governmental service. That too has fallen by the wayside.