Skip to main content

Russia wants Apple, SAP to share source codes to combat spying



Joe Raedle/Getty Images/AFP

RT

Russia has suggested that IT-giants Apple and SAP disclose their source codes to Russian state specialists in order to clear up information security issues after the chain of spy scandals undermined trust in foreign products.

The step would serve to ensure users’ right to privacy and provide information security for state services and corporate clients, the Russian telecom ministry said in a statement.

Last week, Communications Minister Nikolay Nikoforov met with Apple's general manager in Russia, Peter Engrob Nielsen, and SAP's Russian managing director, Vyacheslav Orekhov. He suggested that the IT-companies should reveal their sensitive business secret –source code - for analysis by Russian experts.

“Obviously, companies that disclose the source code of their programs are not hiding anything, but those who do not intend to establish cooperation with Russia on this issue may have undeclared capabilities in their products,” Nikiforov said. Such capabilities refer to the so-called ‘backdoors’ – utilities which theoretically enable third parties to get access to users' personal data bypassing security mechanisms.




AFP Photo/Yasuyoshi Chiba



The minister noted that the prospect for the use of software and hardware produced by companies who refuse to share their codes with the government “remains uncertain.” State customers would opt for trustworthy products, Nikoforov added.

The initiative follows a chain of spy scandals triggered last year by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden who blew the whistle on US government’s mass spying. Millions of people around the globe were affected, including some top-level officials, such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose cell-phone was snooped on.

“Edward Snowden revelations in 2013 and public statements by American special services about the intensifying of surveillance of Russia in 2014 have seriously posed a question of trust to foreign software and equipment,” Nikoforov said.

Several foreign IT-companies have already provided access to their source code. In particular, US technology giant Microsoft has been sharing this data for its products since 2003 with Atlas, an institution that reports to the communications ministry, Nikiforov said.




Reuters/Punit Paranjpe


 Such cooperation program allows Russian specialists to efficiently examine new software versions, the ministry explained in its statement.

German corporation SAP earlier shared its codes for ERP (enterprise resource planning) software with Russia, the company’s deputy Director General for the CIS Pavel Gontarev told Vedomosti daily. These programs have been certified and are currently being used by such customers as the Defense Ministry, Rosatom Corporation and Russian Railways, he said. Currently the source codes for new products - G-cloud and InMemory are unreleased, Gontarev said.

Apple declined immediate comment on the matter, Reuters writes.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why States Still Use Barrel Bombs

Smoke ascends after a Syrian military helicopter allegedly dropped a barrel bomb over the city of Daraya on Jan. 31.(FADI DIRANI/AFP/Getty Images) Summary Barrel bombs are not especially effective weapons. They are often poorly constructed; they fail to detonate more often than other devices constructed for a similar purpose; and their lack of precision means they can have a disproportionate effect on civilian populations. However, combatants continue to use barrel bombs in conflicts, including in recent and ongoing conflicts in Africa and the Middle East, and they are ideally suited to the requirements of resource-poor states. Analysis Barrel bombs are improvised devices that contain explosive filling and shrapnel packed into a container, often in a cylindrical shape such as a barrel. The devices continue to be dropped on towns all over Syria . Indeed, there have been several documented cases of their use in Iraq over the past months, and residents of the city of Mosul, which was re
Post a Comment
Read more

Russia Looks East for New Oil Markets

Click to Enlarge In the final years of the Soviet Union, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev began orienting his foreign policy toward Asia in response to a rising Japan. Putin has also piloted a much-touted pivot to Asia, coinciding with renewed U.S. interest in the area. A good expression of intent was Russia's hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in 2012 in Vladivostok, near Russia's borders with China and North Korea. Although its efforts in Asia have been limited by more direct interests in Russia's periphery and in Europe, Moscow recently has been able to look more to the east. Part of this renewed interest involves finding new export markets for Russian hydrocarbons. Russia's economy relies on energy exports, particularly crude oil and natural gas exported via pipeline to the West. However, Western Europe is diversifying its energy sources as new supplies come online out of a desire to reduce its dependence on Russian energy supplies . This has
Post a Comment
Read more

LONDON POLICE INDIRECTLY ENCOURAGE CRIMINALS TO ATTACK RUSSIAN DIPLOMATIC PROPERTY

ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE A few days ago an unknown perpetrator trespassed on the territory of the Russian Trade Delegation in London, causing damage to the property and the vehicles belonging to the trade delegation , Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during the September 12 press briefing. The diplomat revealed the response by the London police was discouraging. Police told that the case does not have any prospects and is likely to be closed. This was made despite the fact that the British law enforcement was provided with video surveillance tapes and detailed information shedding light on the incident. By this byehavior, British law inforcements indirectly encourage criminals to continue attacks on Russian diplomatic property in the UK. Zakharova’s statement on “Trespassing on the Russian Trade Mission premises in London” ( source ): During our briefings, we have repeatedly discussed compliance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, specif
1 comment
Read more