--- description: Microsoft has been sharing its source code with Moscow since 2002 title: The Biggest, Toughest Decision Apple Faces Now image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltac921cbc3db4740b/69869e1ecd804d8092ccc33b/apple-source-code-microsoft-russia.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Biggest, Toughest Decision Apple Faces Now by [Philip Elmer-DeWitt](/author/fortune/) ## Philip Elmer-DeWitt Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 2, 2014 1:16 PM CUT  An Apple store in New York, New York. An Apple store in New York, New York.Laura Stanley—Getty Images/All Canada Photos by [Philip Elmer-DeWitt](/author/fortune/) ## Philip Elmer-DeWitt Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 2, 2014 1:16 PM CUT  This post is in partnership with Fortune, which offers the latest business and finance news. Read the article below originally published at [Fortune.com](http://fortune.com/2014/07/31/will-apple-give-its-crown-jewels-to-the-kremlin/ "undefined"). The suggestion that Apple hand over the source code for OS X and iOS to the Russian intelligence services for inspection might seem like a nonstarter. For one thing, Apple doesn’t share its crown jewels with anyone, let alone a hostile foreign power. For another, Russia’s homegrown talent for finding and exploiting security holes is legendary. Earlier this week a Russian hacker group called Worm [announced](http://www.forbes.com/sites/katevinton/2014/07/29/data-breach-bulletin-russian-hacker-claims-to-have-infiltrate-both-wall-street-journal-and-vice/ "undefined") that it had infiltrated the Wall Street Journal’s database and would be selling user information on the Internet. Last week Worm’s target was CNET. It turns out that Russia has good reason to expect Apple to cooperate: Microsoft has been doing it for more than a decade. For the rest of the story, [go to Fortune.com](http://fortune.com/2014/07/31/will-apple-give-its-crown-jewels-to-the-kremlin/ "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3070914/apple-source-code/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3070914/apple-source-code/"},"headline":"The Biggest, Toughest Decision Apple Faces Now","datePublished":"2014-08-02T13:16:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:45:47.424Z","description":"Microsoft has been sharing its source code with Moscow since 2002","url":"https://time.com/3070914/apple-source-code/","keywords":["Tech","russia","Apple","Technology","Kremlin"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltac921cbc3db4740b/69869e1ecd804d8092ccc33b/apple-source-code-microsoft-russia.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Philip Elmer-DeWitt"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltac921cbc3db4740b/69869e1ecd804d8092ccc33b/apple-source-code-microsoft-russia.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Apple Source Code","caption":"Apple Source Code","creditText":"Laura Stanley—Getty Images/All Canada Photos","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3070914/apple-source-code/","name":"The Biggest, Toughest Decision Apple Faces Now"}}]}] ```