4/19/2014 Reference Note on Russian Communications Surveillance | Center for Strategic and International Studies

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By James Andrew Lewis
APR 18, 2014
Edward Snowden, perhaps
under duress, recently
participated in a call-in program
where selected viewers can
pose pre-screened questions
directly to Vladimir Putin.
Snowden asked President Putin, Does Russia intercept,
store or analyze in any way the communications of millions
of individuals? Putin denied Russian mass surveillance,
saying Thank God, our special services are strictly
controlled by the state and society, and their activity is
regulated by law.
Three programs, SORM-1, SORM-2, and SORM-3, provide
the foundation of Russian mass communications
surveillance. Russian law gives Russias security service,
the FSB, the authority to use SORM (System for Operative
Investigative Activities) to collect, analyze and store all data
that transmitted or received on Russian networks, including
calls, email, website visits and credit card transactions.
SORM has been in use since 1990 and collects both
metadata and content. SORM-1 collects mobile and landline
telephone calls. SORM-2 collects internet traffic. SORM-3
collects from all media (including Wi-Fi and social networks)
and stores data for three years. Russian law requires all
internet service providers to install an FSB monitoring device
(called Punkt Upravlenia) on their networks that allows the
direct collection of traffic without the knowledge or
cooperation of the service provider. The providers must pay
for the device and the cost of installation.
Collection requires a court order, but these are secret and
not shown to the service provider. According to the data
published by Russias Supreme Court, almost 540,000
intercepts of phone and internet traffic were authorized in
2012. While the FSB is the principle agency responsible for
communications surveillance, seven other Russian security
agencies can have access to SORM data on demand.
SORM is routinely used against political opponents and
human rights activists to monitor them and to collect
information to use against them in dirty tricks campaigns.
Russian courts have upheld the FSBs authority to surveil
political opponents even if they have committed no crime.
Russia used SORM during the Olympics to monitor
athletes, coaches, journalists, spectators, and the Olympic
Committee, publicly explaining this was necessary to
protect against terrorism. The system was an improved
version of SORM that can combine video surveillance with
communications intercepts.
SORM is buttressed by regulations that limit the use of
encryption, and restrictive internet laws that allow the
Reference Note on Russian Communications Surveillance
4/19/2014 Reference Note on Russian Communications Surveillance | Center for Strategic and International Studies
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Government to shut down websites it finds objectionable.
Russia has a national filtering system that can block foreign
sites and it has used the threat of blockage to coerce
western companies into removing objectionable postings.
Russian agencies such as Roskomnadzor (Agency for the
Supervision of Information Technology, Communications,
and Mass Media) provide the name and address of websites
to be blocked to internet service providers, who must take
action within 24 hours. Russia monitors foreign
communications using techniques used by NSA and China.
Wireless and landline communications are monitored in
major capitals: American officials believe that Russia chose
to build an Embassy complex on a hill in Washington D.C.,
for example, to improve interception of mobile
communications.
A number of sources provide information on Russian
surveillance activities, including
Agentura.ru(http://www.agentura.ru/english/), Citizen Lab
(https://citizenlab.org/), Reporters Without Borders
(http://en.rsf.org/russia.html), Privacy International
(https://www.privacyinternational.org/) and (albeit with dated
material) the Federation of American Scientists
(http://www.fas.org/irp/world/russia/index.html).