The cryptocurrency fever can push people to a variety of ill-advised steps. In Russia, a group of employees of a nuclear research center in Sarov were detained by the Federal Security Service (FSB) for “unauthorized use” of the facility’s supercomputers to mine cryptocurrency. The news was reported last week by the online publication TJournal, which cited …
Russia may block access to YouTube and Instagram after billionaire Oleg Deripaska won a court injunction against videos and photographs that showed him and Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Prikhodko relaxing on a yacht with a woman described as an escort. As reported by Bloomberg, the Russian court has ordered the removal of 14 Instagram posts and seven YouTube videos that …
Sexy ‘graft’ video may lead Russia to block Instagram, YouTube Read More
Telegram, which staunchly refuses to surrender encryption keys for all user exchanges, has appealed to the United Nations for support in their dispute with Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB). The instant messenger is represented by lawyers from Agora, a Russian human rights group, reports Meduza, a Russian and English language online publication based in Latvia. In a letter to David …
While the Russian government and the central bank are preparing to regulate cryptocurrencies and ICOs — with a draft bill expected to be ready by mid-2018 — the authorities have taken steps to limit cryptocurrency trading in the country. Thus yesterday Roskomnadzor, the Internet and telecom regulator, announced that it has blocked access to 13 …
Russia blocks access to 13 cryptocurrency trading sites Read More
The instant messenger Telegram has formally challenged a fine imposed for refusing to obey orders from the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) to surrender the encryption keys it uses to protect its users’ communications. Telegram was fined by a Moscow district court on October 16. After the ruling takes effect, Roskomnadzor, the Russian telecom and Internet regulator, will have legal grounds to block …
Telegram challenges Russian court decision over ‘Big Brother law’ Read More
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) had notified Telegram CEO Pavel Durov that his firm was in violation of the law for not sharing with the authorities the encryption keys it uses to protect its users’ communications. Adopted in 2016, this legislation (dubbed ‘Yarovaya law’ or ‘Big Brother law’) requires messenger apps and other “organizers of information distribution” …
Telegram CEO refuses to comply with FSB demand to access encryption keys Read More
On September 18, an article appeared on Medium written by a man named Anton Rozenberg, who identified himself as the former technical director at the Russian social network Vkontakte and a former director of special operations at the instant messenger Telegram. In the text, Rozenberg described his falling out with the Durov brothers, who created both Vkontakte …
A lawsuit in St. Petersburg raises questions about Telegram’s operations in Russia Read More
Last week, Russian police arrested three businessmen for illegally trading in 500 million rubles worth of bitcoin, or around $9 million worth of the crypto-currency. The arrest marks the start of the first-ever criminal case against bitcoin sales in Russia, Vedomosti business daily reported on Sept. 1. The Russian government has a balancing act to do: they want to …
Russia opens first criminal case involving bitcoin Read More
A court case in Moscow is wrapping up against three hackers who broke into several reusable transportation card services, including the ‘Troika Card.’ Prosecutors say the defendants caused 2 million rubles ($34,000) in damages by hacking Moscow’s public transportation payment system, illegally adding fare credits to reusable cards, and then selling the cards. A verdict …
Russian justice system closes in on public transportation hackers Read More
Roskomnadzor, the Russian telecom and Internet regulator, received more than 118,000 reports of illegal online content this year, the agency said earlier this month. In the first six months of 2017, the watchdog received roughly 39,000 complaints related to drugs and drug use and a similar number of notifications flagging illegal games online. Other categories included child …
Russian Internet regulator reports increase in illegal online content Read More
Following last weekend’s violence by far-right groups Charlottesville, a number of technology companies are taking steps to boot neo-Nazis and other hate groups off their services. Among them are security service provider Cloudflare and Internet domain registrar GoDaddy, which abruptly stopped serving the American neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer. The site sought a haven in Russia, but it was …
Moscow-based cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab stated yesterday it would end a lawsuit against Microsoft in Europe and Russia. The US company has agreed to change the way it uses its dominant position in the PC operating system market. “Microsoft has announced today that it is addressing the concerns we recently raised with select governing organizations in Russia …
Kaspersky Lab withdraws antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft in EU & Russia Read More
