Microsoft Corporation that owns the Internet call service Skype is ready to keep in store its Russian users’ negotiations, correspondence and data exchange during six months and share it with Putin's secret police, the KGB, if necessary, Microsoft’s press office said a Russian news agency.
Microsoft thus confirmed its commitment to work in full compliance with the Russian KGB law, the way it does in all countries of its operations. If any new law is adopted, the company will comply with it as well, the press office said.
A group of Russian deputies introduced a package of counter-dissident amendments Wednesday that propose additional regulations, in particular, those in the communications industry.
According to the document, an individual or a legal entity that has organised users’ contacts on the Internet are to store information about the reception, transmission, delivery and processing of voice information, texts, images, sounds or any other actions in the process of information dissemination and/or data exchange, for six months following such actions and share the mentioned information with the KGB, if requested.
If the bill is adopted, the Putin's KGB government will determine which data are to be stored and provided. Negotiations via Skype with a Russian user will be regarded as a communication service provided inside Russia.
Meanwhile, according to experts, the KGB has been freely eavesdropping Skype for several years already and can determine the location of the subscriber. Director of the Group-IB, working to prevent cybercrime of the secret police, told journalists last summer.
Employees of his company are strictly forbidden to discuss work issues when using this software.
As the head of another similar company said in 2011, after Microsoft bought the Skype, it immediately introduced into the program eavesdropping technology which switches user to a special mode.
Its aim is: encryption keys which were previously generated only on the computer or phone, are now generated on the server. Microsoft has long offered the right to use this technology to the KGB.
It is also known that the Russian KGB has access for several years already to intercepting and tracking correspondence "on request sent to Microsoft".
Skype seems to have no fear of Western laws punishing for spying in favor of foreign intelligence agencies.
source:Department of Monitoring Kavkaz Center
