To end leaks, Russia will invest $1 billion in a secure mobile network for officials

What happened

The Russian government appears to be trying to put an end to leaks of sensitive information from its most valuable employees — security officials, bureaucrats and soldiers. A special mobile phone network costing over $1 billion will be created for government officials and law enforcement employees. And those serving in the military will be forbidden from posting any information about themselves on social networks.

• The plan to build a separate mobile network for officials is included in the government’s Digital Economy program. Construction will cost 70 billion rubles ($1.1 billion) and Russia’s fourth largest mobile operator, Tele2, is likely to be the operator. Tele2 is controlled by state-owned bank VTB and telecoms giant Rostelecom. The military will not have its own mobile network, but a draft law was published this month proposing a ban on those serving in the military posting any information about themselves online.
• Unintentional information leaks via social networks have become a serious problem for Russian officials. Much of the material gathered by investigative outfit Bellingcat, which proved the presence of Russian forces in eastern Ukraine and tied Russia to the shooting down of flight MH17, was taken from social media posts made by Russian troops using geolocation tags and photographs. Last year, the Ministry of Defense tried to fight against such leaks with propaganda posters.
• The reason for a mobile phone network for government officials is not as obvious, but it’s likely linked to attempts to block Telegram, the messenger service used by almost all of Russia’s most important government figures, including Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov. Officials use Telegram because it had a reputation as a secure messenger, which intelligence agencies couldn’t spy on — and the ban has so far failed.

Why the world should care

The Russian authorities have been trying in vain for years to adopt the Chinese model of total control over the Internet. The decision to focus on controlling the most vulnerable users is logical — but we’ll see if it is possible to stop leaks to Bellingcat with $1 billion budget.

Anastasia Stognei