I never thought that I would write these lines. The FAPSI empire seemed unshakable and eternal, like the Kremlin walls. This is how it was built by General Starovoitov, the first director, the hero of my many years of investigation.
At the moment of the death of the KGB, Starovoitov withdrew all technical services from Lubyanka. There was no logic here: just grab as much as possible. (If it had happened, he would have taken away the counterintelligence with the border guards.)
It is not surprising that FAPSI soon began to duplicate the work of other intelligence agencies. But when this was pointed out to Starovoitov, he immediately sat down on his favorite skate. They say that the president must receive information from different sources, and if everything goes back, he will be led by the nose.
Oddly enough, they believed Starovoitov. That is why only FAPSI continued to exist, turning from year to year into a kind of colossus with feet of clay. Only there are 18 times (!) more generals here compared to the KGB.
The magical spell dissipated with the arrival of the new president. A career security officer, he understood perfectly well that no one - except the newly minted generals - gained anything from the creation of FAPSI. It’s like in Tolstoy’s story: if you take a broom apart into twigs, even a child will break it.
After technical services were withdrawn from Lubyanka, the efficiency of work in the field of information security fell sharply. Each of the departments pulled the blanket over themselves (under Starovoytov, these relations generally reached the point of outright war). And if we add that theft in FAPSI has become total (I have written about this in detail for many years), then all questions are completely removed. The president's recent announcement about the abolition of three intelligence agencies came as a surprise only to the general public. Professionals have been waiting for him for a long time.
Dwarf intelligence services cannot be strong. It's like cutting off your arms from your body. Clear interaction of all lines is necessary.
But recent directors - both the FPS and FAPSI - were least concerned about security issues. They fought on completely different fronts - parquet ones. For an increase in the budget, for new buildings, for stripes. (By the way, after the transfer of border guards to the FSB, their positions were already cut by two stars. Colonel General positions turned into Major General positions.)
I don’t know what drop filled the cup of Putin’s patience, because he made a statement about reform without even signing decrees. (They appeared only two weeks later.) I would venture to suggest that the reason for everything is the upcoming elections. It was FAPSI that monitored the regions. The famous electronic system of the State Automated System "Elections" was also located here.
Elections to the Duma are in December. The new owners will take over only in July (as determined by the president). Six months is the minimum time to set up a machine, especially since today there is no labor enthusiasm in FAPSI...
If everything is clear with the tax police and border guards (the former go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the latter to the Lubyanka), then the situation around FAPSI is not so rosy. It has been officially announced that the agency is divided between three departments: the FSB, the FSO and the SVR.
There have been a lot of guesses about this in the press, but nothing worthwhile has been said so far. Meanwhile, according to the data we have, the division will occur as follows. A small part of the Third Headquarters (electronic intelligence) is taken over by the SVR: that which is connected with intelligence activities abroad. The other half - work inside the country, together with electronic reconnaissance troops - goes to the FSB. The Second Main Directorate (communication security, decryption, cryptography) will also be transferred here, along with scientific institutions.
At Lubyanka, the person who will supervise the farm has already been identified: Deputy Director Nikolai Klimashin. Recently he was appointed acting director of FAPSI and promoted to first deputy director of the FSB.
The main heir to the FAPSI wealth will be the FSO. It is interesting that in his first speech the president did not mention it at all. (He then called the Ministry of Defense the third successor.) The leadership of the GRU and the General Staff even rolled their lips in the hope of getting electronic intelligence, but instead of spies they only got a consolation prize in the person of the former general director Vladimir Matyukhin (he became the first deputy minister).
It’s clear why the FSO. This is the intelligence service most trusted to the president (much more trusted if he entrusts his life to it). And who, if not the security service, should deal with government communications? Almost everything goes here: the First Main Directorate (government communications), government communications troops, main departments of information resources (supporting the work of government bodies) and information systems (pre-election monitoring). "Social" (rest homes, car depots). Oryol Academy and Voronezh Institute. (The latter is especially desirable here, since the FSO is the only intelligence service that does not have its own universities.)
Initially, it was assumed that the legacy of FAPSI would simply be merged into the FSO, but its head Evgeny Murov thought otherwise. It was he who insisted on the creation of the Special Communications and Information Service (SSCI). On the one hand, it will be an independent department, with its own personnel, medical service and its own security. On the other hand, it is subordinate to the FSO (its head is the deputy director of the security service).
Murov's wisdom is difficult to underestimate. He took such a step specifically so that the SSSI would not become a special service and a subject of an operational intelligence operation. Considering the elections, this is extremely important.
In addition, a wide field for activity appears. The FSO bears a heaviest burden. For 10 years, the FAPSI empire fell into decay.
The most difficult situation is with government communications. The equipment of telephone exchanges has already exhausted its double resource. 75% of government communications cables are in disrepair.
The previous leadership of FAPSI could not cope with the situation. Meanwhile, technology has long stepped forward. In the entire civilized world there are no independent government communication channels (this is too expensive). The principle of subscriber secrecy is in use here. The encoder is placed inside a regular telephone and is turned on when necessary - if, of course, there is the same encoder at the other end.
Experts have repeatedly suggested taking this path, but FAPSI preferred to live the old fashioned way. Change has only become possible now. Provided, of course, that the service is headed by a professional.
Federal Agency for Government Communications and Information
March 11, 2003 V.V. Putin signed a decree according to which he abolished FAPSI, creating on the basis of the Agency the Special Communications and Information Service under the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (Spetsvyaz of Russia).
Like its famous American counterpart, the National Security Agency (NSA), FAPSI is an extremely closed intelligence agency operating in the field of electronic intelligence. Employees of this agency speak in public only about one side of the Agency's activities - information protection, and always carefully avoid the topic of their intelligence activities. Meanwhile, FAPSI is probably the most combat-ready Russian intelligence service. Unlike the FSB, it was not subject to constant restructuring and reorganization. In addition, few people realize that the number of FAPSI employees far exceeds the number of both FSB agents and SVR employees. After all, government communications and information agencies even have their own troops. We should not forget that now all over the world human intelligence is fading into the background, giving way to technical, and above all, radio espionage. But this is the main specialization of FAPSI, which owns its own satellites, foreign radio interception centers around the world, etc. FAPSI is a federal executive body subordinate directly to the President of the Russian Federation. Federal bodies of government communications and information are an integral part of the security forces of the Russian Federation and are part of the system of federal executive authorities.
The main areas of activity of federal government communications and information bodies according to the law are:
– organization and provision of operation, security, development and improvement of government communications, other types of special communications and special information systems for government agencies; ensuring, within its competence, the safety of state secrets;
– organization and provision of cryptographic and engineering security of encrypted communications in the Russian Federation and its institutions abroad;
– organization and conduct of external intelligence activities in the field of encrypted, classified and other types of special communications using radio-electronic means and methods;
– providing the highest bodies of state power of the Russian Federation, central bodies of federal executive power, the Security Council of the Russian Federation with reliable and independent from other sources of special information (materials of external intelligence activities, information on maintaining management of the national economy during a special period, wartime and in emergency situations, economic information for mobilization purposes, information for socio-economic monitoring), necessary for them to make decisions in the field of security, defense, economics, science and technology, international relations, ecology, as well as mobilization readiness.
The FAPSI included:
– Main Scientific and Technical Directorate (GNTU)
– Main Directorate of Government Communications (GUPS)
– Main Directorate of Communications Security (GUBS)
– Main Directorate of Radio-Electronic Intelligence of Communications (GURRSS) - external radio-electronic intelligence
– Main Directorate of Information Systems (GUIS)
– Main Administrative Directorate (GAU) - former FAPSI headquarters
– Cryptographic service - external electronic intelligence and encryption. It should be especially noted that it collects and carries out primary processing of intelligence information, sending it to the Situation Center, other intelligence services and law enforcement agencies.
– Department of External Relations - head Ulanov Alexander Borisovich.
This department, through the Situation Center, supplies the President of Russia with about 80% of the information and is responsible for information and information technology support for all interested government bodies from the Security Council to the FSB, including the regional level.
The Main Directorate of Information Systems of FAPSI is responsible for information and information technology support of government bodies, including the regional level. The agency, on the one hand, performs the functions of an integrator of information resources, and on the other, a developer of its own analytical materials prepared on the basis of original methods and models that form the core of information and analytical systems (IAS). Today, GUIS specialists provide information support to databases created in regional and departmental management structures, prepare problematic materials (forecasts, analytical reviews, retrospective certificates) at the request of government bodies, and conduct content analysis of materials published in central and local media.
Participate in the formation, maintenance and provision of reference, factual and problem-oriented databases and data banks to users.
The information that GUIS prepares is mainly of a socio-political and socio-economic nature. In addition, GUIS monitors emergency situations on the territory of the country and participates in the implementation of the program of legal informatization of regions. Socio-political information is reflected by data and analytical materials about socio-political life and problems of Russia. These documents are formed on the basis of sociological surveys, reviews and analysis of media publications. Information and analytical support for these works is carried out using the appropriate information system.
Resources on socio-economic topics are represented by passports of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and documents of comparative analysis of the socio-economic development of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, provided on the basis of information from the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation. Information and analytical activities in the scope of socio-economic problems are supported with the help of the Russian Economy Information System. A distinctive feature of the IAS “Russian Economy” is the ability to integrate information coming from various departments and regions responsible for the state of activity in the area under their jurisdiction. This expands the analytical capabilities of the system, as it allows one to evaluate socio-economic processes from various points of view, taking into account the complexity of cause-and-effect relationships.
FAPSI also has an extensive fund of information on emergency situations (ES) on the territory of the Russian Federation. The fund contains data for the period from April 1990 to the present on the facts, the threat of occurrence and the progress of localization of emergencies caused by accidents, catastrophes, natural disasters, epidemics, epizootics and epiphytoties, and events of a socio-political nature. The emergency data fund contains a database of operational information and an archive of analytical materials on emergency situations. To provide government bodies of the Russian Federation with information about information resources in the field of public administration, a register of databases operated in federal ministries and departments and in state regional administrative bodies has been prepared. Data is presented for more than 2000 databases.
On December 24, 1991, in accordance with the decree of President Boris Yeltsin, the Federal Agency for Government Communications and Information under the President of the Russian Federation (abbreviated as FAPSI) was created. From that time until 2003, for just over eleven years, this special service ensured the security of information and government communications of the Russian Federation. Accordingly, on December 24, a bygone holiday was celebrated - FAPSI Day. At the beginning of 2003, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree, which provided for the abolition of the Federal Agency for Government Communications and Information under the President of the Russian Federation. The functions of FAPSI were transferred to three other Russian intelligence services - the Federal Security Service (FSB), the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) and the Federal Security Service (FSO). Nevertheless, although FAPSI has been gone for 12 years, the existence of the agency should not be forgotten, because it is a rather interesting page in the domestic intelligence services, which fell during the difficult “dashing nineties” for the country.
In the modern information society, issues of information security, ensuring special communication between government structures and the head of state, play a critical role in the overall system of national security. Accordingly, since the development of communication systems, the need arose for the existence of a special structure that could effectively ensure both the protection of transmitted information and the interception of enemy (or potential enemy) information. The history of Russian government communications dates back to the Soviet era. Formed in 1991, the Federal Agency for Government Communications and Information became the successor to the Government Communications Committee under the President of the RSFSR, which, in turn, arose after the cessation of the existence of the USSR State Security Committee (KGB USSR) and included in its composition the departments and departments of the KGB responsible for government communications, encryption and decryption, electronic intelligence.
From the Special Department to the Main Directorate
Back in May 1921, by resolution of the Small Council of People's Commissars, a Special Department of the Cheka (All-Russian Extraordinary Commission) was created - the country's cryptographic service. It was headed by Gleb Bokiy (1879-1937) - a famous Bolshevik with pre-revolutionary experience, a participant in the October armed uprising in Petrograd and a member of the Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee. Despite the fact that the unit led by Gleb Bokiy was part of the structure of the Cheka, in fact it was autonomous and subordinated directly to the Central Committee of the RCP (b). The autonomy of the Special Department was explained by the extremely important and secret tasks that it performed. Naturally, the Soviet leaders were very careful in selecting personnel for the Special Department. By the way, in its work the department relied on the studied experience of the intelligence services of the Russian Empire, as well as foreign intelligence services. Specialists for the new department were trained in special six-month courses, but, nevertheless, at the beginning of its existence, the department experienced a significant shortage of qualified personnel. In 1925, Gleb Bokiy was able to take the post of deputy chairman of the OGPU. Under his leadership, effective cryptography and radio reconnaissance activities were organized, and in 1927 a Radio Direction Finding Station was created, from which the naval radio reconnaissance of the Soviet Union began. In 1929, the government communications department of the OGPU was created, and in 1930 the first high-frequency communication lines Moscow - Leningrad and Moscow - Kharkov began to function. The following year, 1931, in accordance with OGPU Order No. 308/183 of June 10, 1931, the 5th department of the Operations Department of the OGPU was created, whose competence included the operation of long-distance government telephone communications. The thirties were the time of laying the foundations of the domestic government communications system.
In fact, it was during this period that the foundation was laid for the most powerful system of government communications, encryption and decryption that existed in the Soviet Union and was then inherited by post-Soviet Russia. It was in the 1930s that the construction of main overhead communication lines began to meet the needs of long-distance government high-frequency communications. In 1935, the technical communications department of the Office of the Commandant of the Moscow Kremlin was formed, and the following year, 1936, the communications department of the Main Security Directorate (GUO) of the NKVD of the USSR and the communications department of the Economic Administration (KHOZU) of the NKVD of the USSR were formed. The main task of government communications in the 1930s. began to protect information from direct eavesdropping - using speech masking devices. The first domestic automatic long-distance telephone exchange (AMTS) was developed and manufactured for high-frequency communications.
The years of the Great Patriotic War became a serious test for the structures responsible for encryption and decryption, for ensuring the protection of information. Government communications units were given serious tasks to ensure communication between the government, front commands, and Red Army formations. In February 1943, to ensure the maintenance and protection of high-frequency communications, government communications troops were created. The first commander of the troops, who remained in his post for sixteen years - until August 1959, was Pavel Fedorovich Uglovsky (1902-1975). In the past, a telegraph operator at a railway station, Pavel Uglovsky was called up to serve in the ranks of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army in 1924, and as a person with a telegraph operator education and work experience, he was sent to the signal troops. In 1925, Uglovsky graduated from military pigeon breeding courses and became the head of an experimental military pigeon breeding station as part of the border district of the GPU of the Byelorussian SSR. Then Pavel Fedorovich continued his education, completing courses at the Kyiv Military School of Communications and academic courses for improving technical staff at the Leningrad Military Electrotechnical Academy. He served as head of the technical department of the Moscow Border School of Communications of the NKVD of the USSR, and in 1937 he headed the department of the communications department, and then the communications department of the Main Directorate of Border Troops of the NKVD of the USSR. In January 1943, Uglovsky was put in charge of the USSR government communications troops. In 1944, he was awarded the military rank of Lieutenant General of the Signal Corps. Under the command of General Uglovsky, the government communications troops passed the battle path with honor during the Great Patriotic War. As Marshal of the Soviet Union K.K. rightly noted. Rokossovsky, ““the use of government communications during the war years revolutionized military command and control” (Quoted from: http://www.fso.gov.ru/struktura/p2_1_2.html).
In the post-war years, the development of government communications troops and government communications, encryption and decryption bodies of the USSR reached a new level. Technical means were improved, new communication and information security equipment was launched, and innovative methods for organizing service were developed. Government communications have become autonomous from the public communications network. After the creation of the State Security Committee of the USSR, specialized departments responsible for information security were created within its composition. These included the Eighth Main Directorate of the KGB of the USSR, responsible for encryption, decryption and government communications, and (from 1973) the Sixteenth Directorate, responsible for conducting electronic intelligence, decryption work and radio interception. The troops of the KGB of the USSR included government communications troops subordinate to the Eighth Main Directorate of the KGB of the USSR, and radio reconnaissance and radio interception units subordinate to the Sixteenth Directorate of the KGB of the USSR. Naturally, the new level of development of government communications and information security also required improving the system of training personnel for government communications agencies and troops. For this purpose, in Bagrationovka, Kaliningrad region, on September 27, 1965, on the basis of the military camp of the 95th border detachment and the first building of the Higher Border Command School, the Military Technical School of the KGB of the USSR was created with a three-year training period. The school began to produce officers for the government communications troops of the KGB of the USSR. On September 1, 1966, the educational process began at the school. On October 1, 1972, the school was transferred to Orel and transformed into the Oryol Higher Military Command School of Communications (OVVKUS), which began training officers with higher education for government communications troops. Until 1993, the school trained officers in a four-year program.
The history of Soviet special communications during the Cold War is the story of a desperate and virtually unknown to society confrontation in the field of information intelligence and information security. The intelligence services of the opponents of the Soviet Union and the KGB of the USSR acted with varying success, and the actions of traitors and defectors remained a serious problem for the Soviet Union. Thus, the well-known successes of Soviet intelligence in the field of studying the secrets of Western intelligence services were jeopardized in October 1979. During a business trip to Poland, 33-year-old Major Viktor Sheymov, who served in the encryption communications department of the 8th Main Directorate of the KGB of the USSR, on his own initiative established contact with American intelligence officers. Returning to the Soviet Union, Major Sheymov met several times with representatives of the CIA station, to whom he conveyed information about his work. Then Sheimov, with his wife Olga and young daughter, managed to secretly leave the Soviet Union and go to the United States, using the help of American intelligence services. Thanks to the information received from Sheimov, American electronic intelligence in Germany was able to organize an operation in April 1981 to listen to the cars of the Soviet military attache and his assistants working in Germany. The chassis of cars that were produced at the Opel plant were equipped with equipment that could not be detected without destroying the cars. The result of the operation carried out by the Americans was the identification of several Soviet agents and the deciphering of Soviet military intelligence codes. Another unpleasant story was the betrayal of Lieutenant Viktor Makarov, who served in the 16th Directorate of the KGB of the USSR. In May 1985, the lieutenant, on his own initiative, offered his services to the British intelligence service MI6 and provided information about decrypted Canadian, Greek and German messages relating to NATO activities in Europe.
On the other hand, among the famous victories of the Soviet intelligence services in the field of wiretapping is the wiretapping of the French Embassy in Moscow in the early 1980s. In January 1983, the French Embassy in Moscow reported the discovery of an alien electronic device that could transmit received telegraph information to an external power grid. Also in the early 1980s. Employees of the KGB of the USSR and the MGB of the GDR cracked the NATO code, after which they were able to read messages of correspondence between the command of the Bundeswehr and the Western allies of Germany.
Creation of FAPSI
After the events of August 1991, transformational changes took place in the country's state security system. The State Security Committee ceased to exist. On November 26, 1991, President of the RSFSR Boris Yeltsin issued decree No. 233 “On the transformation of the State Security Committee of the RSFSR into the Federal Security Agency of the RSFSR.” However, in the field of government communications management, large-scale changes began a little earlier. 
Almost immediately after the events of August 1991, the Government Communications Committee under the President of the USSR was created, the chairman of which was appointed on September 25, 1991, Lieutenant General Alexander Vladimirovich Starovoitov (b. 1940), who previously held the position of deputy head of the Department of Government Communications Troops for issues technical equipment of the State Security Committee. Alexander Starovoitov was one of the most competent specialists, with extensive experience in scientific, technical and leadership activities both in specialized scientific and technical organizations and in the State Security Committee. After graduating from the Penza Polytechnic Institute, Alexander Starovoytov worked at the Kalugapribor plant, where he worked his way up from engineer to deputy shop manager. Then he transferred to Penza - to the enterprise “mailbox 30/10” of the USSR Ministry of Radio Industry. After the Penza Scientific Research Electrotechnical Institute of the USSR Ministry of Communications Industry was created on the basis of the enterprise, Alexander Starovoitov became an employee of this institute and worked there for twenty years - until 1986. From December 1982, he held the position of first deputy general director of the Penza Production Association "Crystal" for science - director of the Penza Scientific Research Electrotechnical Institute, and in February 1983 he headed the Penza Production Association "Crystal" of the Ministry of Communications Industry of the USSR. As a major specialist in his field, Alexander Starovoytov, who was listed as a lieutenant colonel in the active reserve of the KGB of the USSR, was called up for military service and in May 1986 was appointed to the post of deputy head of the Department of Government Communications Troops for technical equipment, with the rank of “Major General” . In May 1988, Major General Alexander Starovoytov was awarded the next military rank of “lieutenant general.”
On December 24, 1991, by Decree of the President of the RSFSR No. 313 of December 24, 1991 “On the creation of the Federal Agency for Government Communications under the President of the RSFSR,” the Federal Agency for Government Communications and Information under the President of the RSFSR was created. The new special service included bodies of the Government Communications Committee under the President of the RSFSR, which included structures of the former 8th Main Directorate of the KGB of the USSR, the State Information and Computing Center under the State Commission for Emergency Situations, as well as the former 16th Directorate of the KGB of the USSR - the Main Directorate of Electronic Intelligence means of communication. Lieutenant General Alexander Starovoytov was appointed Director General of the Federal Agency for Government Communications and Information. Vladimir Viktorovich Makarov was appointed first deputy general director of FAPSI - head of the department for work with personnel. Major General Anatoly Ivanovich Kuranov was appointed Deputy General Director of FAPSI.
The most secret intelligence agency
Under the leadership of Alexander Starovoitov, the Federal Agency for Government Communications and Information began to transform into a powerful special service, which throughout the 1990s constantly developed and improved, remaining perhaps the most secret of the Russian security agencies. On February 19, 1993, the Law of the Russian Federation “On Federal Bodies of Government Communications and Information” was signed, adopted by the Supreme Council of the country and laying the foundations for the regulatory and legal support of the activities of government communications bodies of the Russian Federation. In 1994, the Information Resources Department of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation was included in FAPSI for some time, which existed within the FAPSI structure under the name “Main Directorate of Information Resources.” Then it was again returned to the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation - this time under the name “Department of Informatization and Documentation Support of the Presidential Administration.” On April 3, 1995, in accordance with Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 334 “On measures to comply with the law in the development, production, sale and operation of encryption tools, as well as the provision of services in the field of information encryption,” the Federal Protection Center was created as part of FAPSI economic information. At the same time, it should be noted that since 1992 the functions of ensuring presidential communications have been separated from the competence of FAPSI in accordance with the decrees of the President of the Russian Federation of September 28 and October 29, 1992. Technical means of presidential communications and the personnel involved in their maintenance were transferred from the Federal Agency for Government Communications and Information to the Main Directorate of Security of the Russian Federation. The Presidential Communications Department was created as part of the Main Directorate of the Russian Federation, headed by Deputy Head of the Main Security Directorate of the Russian Federation Yu.P. Korneev. After the transformation of the Main Security Directorate into the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, the Presidential Communications Directorate remained part of the new intelligence service. As for the FAPSI bodies, they made a huge contribution to ensuring the national security of the Russian Federation in the 1990s. FAPSI military personnel participated in counter-terrorism operations in the North Caucasus and performed many other important government tasks, including information support for the elections of the President of the Russian Federation in 1996. For effective work as Director General of FAPSI, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation B. N. Yeltsin, on February 23, 1998, Colonel General Alexander Starovoitov was awarded the military rank of Army General.
In the 1990s. serious changes have also occurred in the field of training officers of the Federal Agency for Government Communications and Information. First of all, it should be noted that by order of the General Director of FAPSI Alexander Starovoytov, on April 23, 1992, the Oryol Higher Military Command School of Communications named after. M.I. Kalinin was transformed into the Military Institute of Government Communications (VIPS). Major General V. A. Martynov was appointed head of the institute. From the first days of its existence in an updated form, the educational institution has become one of the most prestigious military universities in Russia. On March 6, 1994, the Military Institute of Government Communications was the first of the Russian military universities to receive a license to conduct educational activities in established specialties. In 1998, in order to organize professional training of military specialists for federal government communications and information agencies, the Voronezh Military Technical School was created in Voronezh. It was created to cover the need of the Federal Agency for Government Communications and Information for technical specialists with high-quality secondary vocational education, capable of working with communication systems. At the Voronezh Military Technical School, the training period was designed for 2.5 years, and after graduation the military rank of “ensign” was awarded. The educational institution trained specialists with secondary vocational education in the specialties of “communication networks and switching systems”, “multi-channel telecommunication systems”, “radio communications, radio broadcasting and television”. 
FAPSI in the late 1990s.
On December 7, 1998, the first director of FAPSI, Army General Alexander Starovoytov, was dismissed from his post, with the wording “in connection with a transfer to another job.” In 1999, Alexander Starovoytov was transferred from military service to the reserve. Subsequently, the “founding father” of FAPSI held various leadership positions in Russian scientific and technical institutions, and until now he actively combines scientific and practical work with scientific and pedagogical activities. Starovoytov was replaced as director of FAPSI by Colonel General Vladislav Petrovich Sherstyuk (b. 1940). A native of the Krasnodar region, Vladislav Sherstyuk was educated at the Faculty of Physics of Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov, then entered military service in the bodies of the State Security Committee under the Council of Ministers of the USSR. He served in the 8th Main Directorate of the KGB of the USSR (encryption, decryption and government communications). In 1992, after the creation of FAPSI, he continued to serve in the Main Directorate of Radio-Electronic Intelligence of Communications, and in 1995 he was appointed head of the Main Directorate of Electronic Intelligence of FAPSI. Since 1998, he also served as Deputy General Director of FAPSI. However, General Vladislav Sherstyuk did not remain in the post of head of the special service for long. He was appointed to the post on December 7, 1998, and on May 31, 1999, just six months after his appointment, he was transferred to the post of First Deputy Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation. He held this position until May 004, and then, for six years, was Assistant Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation. Like Alexander Starovoytov, Vladislav Sherstyuk is not only a prominent statesman and military figure, but also a scientist. He is a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Cryptography and a full member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences (RANS).
By the end of the 1990s. The FAPSI structure looked like this. The Federal Agency included five main departments. The Main Administrative Directorate of FAPSI (GAU FAPSI) included the FAPSI headquarters and was responsible for organizing management and other staff functions. The Main Directorate of Government Communications of the FAPSI (GUPS FAPSI) was formed on the basis of divisions of the Department of Government Communications of the KGB of the USSR and carried out the tasks of ensuring the security of subscribers of presidential communications and government communications, government long-distance communications. The Main Directorate for Communications Security of the FAPSI (GUBS FAPSI) was created on the basis of the 8th Main Directorate of the KGB of the USSR (encryption and decryption) and continued its activities. The Main Directorate of Electronic Intelligence of Communications FAPSI (GURRSS FAPSI) was created on the basis of the 16th Directorate of the KGB of the USSR, which was engaged in organizing electronic intelligence, radio interception and continued its functions. The Main Directorate of Information Resources of FAPSI (GUIR FAPSI) was responsible for information and information-technological support of state authorities and management of the Russian Federation, starting from the Security Council of the Russian Federation and the Federal Security Service and ending with regional authorities and management. The competence of GUIR also included working with open sources of information, including the media. The tasks of the GUIR included providing authorities and management with “reliable and independent from other sources of special information.” Naturally, it was on the basis of GUIR that they built their information bases and structures of the presidential administration. Also, in addition to the main departments, FAPSI included the Cryptographic Service, which was responsible for the encryption and primary processing of intelligence information, which was then sent to other intelligence services and authorities, and the Internal Security Service, which ensured the protection of FAPSI employees, the premises of the intelligence service, as well as the fight against corruption and espionage.
The Federal Agency for Government Communications and Information took an active part in counter-terrorism operations of federal forces in the territory of the republics of the North Caucasus, primarily in the Chechen Republic. An important role was played by FAPSI electronic intelligence units, as well as government communications units. A number of FAPSI servicemen died during hostilities on the territory of Chechnya - while performing their official duties. At the same time, a number of sources draw attention to the insufficient level of organization of information protection, primarily communications, during the first Chechen campaign, which led to numerous tragic situations and impressive human losses among the federal forces. Representatives of the militants repeatedly demonstrated to journalists how they intercepted negotiations between Russian military personnel and police officers; this topic was constantly raised in the media, but none of the senior officials gave clear explanations.
After the resignation of Colonel General Vladislav Sherstyuk, Colonel General Vladimir Georgievich Matyukhin (born 1945) was appointed as the new, third and last General Director of the Federal Agency for Government Communications and Information. He, like his predecessor, was a veteran of state security agencies and began serving in the KGB of the USSR back in the late 1960s. In 1968, Vladimir Matyukhin graduated from the Moscow Energy Institute and in 1969 began serving in the 8th Main Directorate of the KGB of the USSR (encryption, decryption, government communications). In parallel with his service in the KGB, the young officer increased his educational level - in 1973 he graduated from the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov, and in 1983 - graduate school at the Higher School of the KGB of the USSR. 
As part of FAPSI, Vladimir Matyukhin headed the Research Center of the Main Directorate of Communications Security of FAPSI in 1991, and in 1993 he became Deputy General Director of FAPSI. On May 31, 1999, he was appointed to the position of Director General of the Federal Agency for Government Communications and Information. As the Director General of FAPSI, Vladimir Matyukhin was included in the Operational Headquarters for managing counter-terrorism actions in the North Caucasus region, and was also a member of the Security Council of the Russian Federation and the Commission of the Government of the Russian Federation on Military-Industrial Issues. Under the leadership of Vladimir Matyukhin, significant changes took place in the system of higher professional education of government communications and information agencies. So, at the end of March 2000, in accordance with the order of the President of the Russian Federation of March 30, 2000 No. 94-rp and the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of April 12, 2000 No. 336, to improve the quality of training, retraining and advanced training of personnel in the field of government communications , special communications, electronic intelligence of communications and information security, the Military Institute of Government Communications was transformed into the Academy of the Federal Agency for Government Communications and Information under the President of the Russian Federation (short name - FAPSI Academy). This educational institution continued to train highly qualified personnel for government communications in specialties related to information security.
Liquidation of FAPSI
In the early 2000s. The changed political and economic situation in the country forced the leaders of the Russian state to think about further improving the system for ensuring the country's national security. As is known, after the collapse of the USSR and the liquidation of the KGB of the USSR, the former only and all-powerful intelligence service of the Soviet Union, in post-Soviet Russia there were several intelligence services that arose on the basis of the KGB - 1) the Federal Security Service, which was responsible for counterintelligence, economic security and protection of the constitutional order; 2) the Foreign Intelligence Service, which was responsible for foreign intelligence; 3) Federal Security Service, which was responsible for the protection of top officials of the state and strategic state facilities; 4) Federal Agency for Government Communications and Information, responsible for government communications and information protection, for electronic intelligence; 5) Federal Border Service, which was responsible for protecting state borders and was the successor to the Border Troops of the KGB of the USSR. Now, in accordance with the changed situation, it was decided to significantly change the structure of the Russian special services. In particular, a course was taken to consolidate and strengthen the Federal Security Service and the Federal Security Service. As a result of the reform that had begun, it was decided to abolish the Federal Border Service and reassign its structures, bodies and troops to the Federal Security Service, within which the FSB Border Service was created. It was also decided to liquidate the Federal Agency for Government Communications and Information, one of the most closed and effective special services of the Russian Federation. According to some experts, one of the reasons for the decision to include units of this special service into other security agencies was a number of high-profile scandals in the second half of the 1990s related to the activities of some high-ranking employees of the organization. In addition, the need for a unified structure became obvious, capable of collecting and analyzing information, or ensuring the security of senior officials of the state - not only physical, but also informational. These tasks explained the upcoming division of FAPSI between the FSB and the FSO.
On March 11, 2003, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin signed a decree abolishing the Federal Agency for Government Communications and Information. The functions of FAPSI were distributed between the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation and the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation. The General Director of FAPSI, Colonel General Vladimir Matyukhin, was transferred to the position of Chairman of the State Committee of the Russian Federation for State Defense Orders under the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation - First Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation. Then, on March 11, 2003, Vladimir Matyukhin was awarded the military rank of Army General. A significant part of FAPSI personnel and property was transferred to the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, within which the Special Communications and Information Service was created, the head of which received the rank of deputy director of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation. The FSO Special Communications and Information Service was headed by Colonel General Yuri Pavlovich Kornev (1948-2010), who previously, from 1991 to 2003, headed the FAPSI Presidential Communications Department (from 1992 - GUO, then - FSO), and in 2003 -2010 - Special Communications and Information Service of the FSO. After the untimely death of Yuri Pavlovich Kornev in 2010, in 2011, the Special Communications and Information Service was headed by Alexey Gennadievich Mironov.
Military educational institutions of FAPSI were also transferred to the subordination of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation. The Academy of the Federal Agency for Government Communications and Information under the President of the Russian Federation, in accordance with the order of the Government of the Russian Federation of October 25, 2003, was renamed the Academy of the Special Communications and Information Service under the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (abbreviated as the Academy of Special Communications). The Voronezh Military Technical School FAPSI was renamed the Voronezh Military Technical School FSO of the Russian Federation. On November 15, 2004, it was decided to rename the Academy of the Special Communications and Information Service under the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation into the Academy of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (abbreviated as the Academy of the FSO of the Russian Federation). In 2008, the Voronezh Military Technical School of the Federal Security Service was attached to the FSO Academy as a branch. Currently, the educational institution continues to train qualified specialists in the following specialties: multi-channel telecommunication systems; radio communications, radio broadcasting and television; communication networks and switching systems; information security of telecommunication systems; automated information processing and management systems; jurisprudence (legal support of national security). The branch, created on the basis of the Voronezh Military Technical School, trains specialists with secondary vocational education, the training period is 2 years and 9 months, and upon graduation, graduates are awarded the military rank of “ensign”. For the Federal Security Service, the transfer of FAPSI educational institutions to its structure was a special event, since before this the FSO did not have its own military educational institutions. The traditions of the special communications service are preserved - now in the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation. But for many people who served in the bodies and troops of FAPSI in 1991-2003, the day of the formation of FAPSI is still significant, since a lot is connected with this service, which lasted throughout the first and such a difficult decade of post-Soviet Russian statehood - youth, professional development and improvement, difficult everyday life of service and even heroic deeds.
The first mistake of the total pogrom (“reform”) of the KGB was the fragmentation of its divisions and giving them independent status, especially such as the Government Communications Department (UPC). We are talking about HF operational communications (“Kremlevka”), without which any special service is paralyzed, becomes deaf and blind.
Let us remember the putsch of the State Emergency Committee and the shutdown of special communications in Foros for a few days for Gorbachev, who was vacationing there with his family. It is not difficult to imagine a more extreme situation for the country.
So, instead of the UPS, as well as the eighth and sixteenth chiefs of the KGB, an independent agency appeared - the Federal Agency for Government Communications and Information under the President (FAPSI), where, in the general opinion of committee specialists, “there are more employees, but less order.”
FAPSI was headed by General Director, Colonel General Alexander Starovoitov until 1998.
Before they had time to divide the buildings, equipment, and furniture among themselves, FAPSI began to make claims against the main heir to the KGB property - FSK. Allegedly, they “forgot” to transfer to FAPSI the FSK Academy (the former Higher School of the KGB of the USSR), which is on Michurinsky Avenue. However, FAPSI applied for only one of the faculties of the Academy - the Institute of Cryptography, Communications and Informatics (ICSI). However, private property interests prevailed over common sense. A destructive lawsuit for the Academy began, behind which the presidential services stood.
The very idea of “privatization” of FAPSI came from the democratic government, which decided to monopolize the wiretapping of telephone conversations of persons included in the elite of society; opposition movements, parties and organizations; editorial offices of newspapers and magazines, the State Duma, etc.
Alas! Leaders of states come and go, but political investigation remains. It can change, but is eternal, like the Universe...
Immediately, accusations were made against FAPSI and demands to comply with the Constitution. Even the head of the Presidential Administration and Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council were forced to make a sensational statement about the illegal tapping of their phones.
So, the “witch hunt” took place even in “their” democratic environment. Politics is a matter... some say “subtle”, others say “dirty”. As soon as the ultra-democrat Yushenkov, chairman of the Duma Defense Committee, criticized the authorities regarding the start of the military operation in Chechnya, his “turntable” was immediately turned off. Who did it, on whose command, Mr. Yushenkov was never able to find out.
But the deputies themselves adopted the law on wiretapping, without stipulating in whose hands the levers of political and psychological influence on citizens disliked by the authorities should be and how to counteract the arbitrariness of FAPSI. The president had unlimited power, given to him by legislators in a state of “revolutionary” euphoria.
Yeltsin on a tank captivated the people, eclipsing Lenin on a small armored car.
To be fair, this comparison is worth elaborating. Lenin led the poor, hungry, tormented by the world and then endless civil war, Entente campaigns, uprisings, rebellions and other strife, Russia with bast shoes and plows. Yeltsin inherited a powerful nation with nuclear weapons, penetration into space and other great achievements, including in the field of cryptography, making it possible to obtain and protect information. It is precisely these three parameters, according to Western politicians, that determine the characteristics of a great power. As for FAPSI, in sovereign Russia it is a gigantic secret empire of closed communications and information under the president.
And whoever has the information has the power.
And not only in your country, but also in the world. Realizing this, the Americans, for example, are increasing their spending on information warfare equipment every year. Over the past 15 years, they have quadrupled; these costs exceed all of the country's weapons programs.
FAPSI also understands this and believes that in the 21st century the main threat to Russia is in the information sphere.
And here they are right. But at the same time, great technical achievements are treacherously squandered. What is the value of just one deal with the most informed and productive Israeli intelligence agency, MOSSAD, working in this area, with which FAPSI, through dummies, concluded a seemingly innocent agreement on insurance for its employees. For a modest fee, Israeli intelligence entered the holy of holy secrets of FAPSI - right down to the full list of its employees, indicating their positions, addresses, office and home telephone numbers! It’s not far from the notorious “nuclear suitcase,” which FAPSI lists as the Kazbek automated control system, which became known to the whole world thanks to publications in the open press.
They publish openly secret information and a list of closed research institutes... So what? Did Kalugin publish a book with memoirs about the work of Soviet intelligence in the United States, “unwittingly” failing the agent? And Bakatin revealed KGB secrets to the US Embassy...
Now it’s impossible to understand what motivates these people who have seized power - stupidity or deliberate and open betrayal?
Either way, it's a tragedy. Stupidity and betrayal under democracy have become two more national problems of Russia after drunkenness, theft and roads.
So FAPSI has turned into an ordinary commercial enterprise. Its leadership steals, displays its products, and publishes secret materials in the open press. At one time, even the powerful Beria failed to subjugate this service, which was tied directly to Stalin, who did not trust it to anyone. Only after the cult of Stalin was debunked was the information service transferred to the control and guardianship of the KGB.
Now everything is back to normal. After the events of August 1991, the President subjugated FAPSI. Now the results of elections - both Duma and presidential - are flowing into this organization. Isn't this a lever of power?
According to Starovoitov, FAPSI employs more than 300 candidates of sciences, doctors, academicians and corresponding members. Mainly mathematicians. And not by chance. The Russian encryption service and the creator of the first encryptor, Academician Kotelnikov, are known throughout the world. And the modern computers in FAPSI's arsenal are capable of performing more than a billion operations... per second!
At one time, when I worked in the Inspectorate Directorate, on instructions from the leadership of the KGB of the USSR and directly from my boss, General Tolkunov, I had to carry out one delicate assignment - to conduct a thorough analysis of the effectiveness of one information and analytical system, the authors of which were nominated for the Lenin Prize. It was then that I met many scientists - cryptographers, codebreakers, radio interceptors, desk workers, but with many government awards. In particular, with General Andreev, an intelligent and charming man. He told me a lot about Russian cryptography, before which American specialists bowed their heads. He said that their strength lies in the careful storage of secret developments: “Smart is quiet.”
Unfortunately, the employees of today's FAPSI do not keep secrets. It’s one thing to tell the story of how Khrushchev “let it slip”, telling the whole world that thanks to our codebreakers, the secrets of the American NSA service have long been known (by the way, this service was then closed there for a long time), it’s another thing to talk about the technical parameters of FAPSI in the open press . By the way, Starovoitov and his controllers from military counterintelligence sometimes sin with this, publishing similar materials in Izvestia, Rossiyskaya Gazeta and the ubiquitous Moskovsky Komsomolets...
To present for public viewing at the international exhibition “SVYAZ-EXPOCOMM-95” the unique technical developments and capabilities of FAPSI - something like this has never been seen in the history of intelligence services. Even Rossiyskaya Gazeta gave a remarkable title for its article: “The Most Secret Secret.” And she’s right, without any stretch...
The author of the article writes: “FAPSI specialists have developed a new information and telecommunication system ITKS, the project of which was approved by closed(italics mine. – auto.) government meeting...” But if the system is being considered behind closed doors, then why is this reported in the open press?
In an interview with Deputy General Director of FAPSI Yu. Shankin we read: “There are only two powerful cryptographic centers in the world: in the USA - NSA and in Russia - FAPSI. We are talking not only about qualified cryptographers, but also about a large infrastructure..."
A year later, a catchy headline appeared in the same Izvestia: “General FAPSI sits in Lefortovo...” It was reported that Major General V. Monastyretsky, head of the financial and economic department of FAPSI, had been arrested “for theft of state property on a large scale.” This is how FAPSI leaders shared secret communications with businessmen!
In one case, Monastyretsky embezzled 20 million German marks in the process of settlements with foreign companies (great services must be given to global “entrepreneurship”), in another he grabbed 28 billion rubles, using them to buy shares of the Nizhny Tagil Metallurgical Plant, and in the third - 5.5 billion rubles allocated by the state for the purchase of cable for FAPSI. For some reason, the money ended up in the accounts of one of the private joint-stock companies, and the interest on turnover went to Monastyretsky, in the words of the MK newspaper, “the best friend and ally of FAPSI General Director Starovoitov.” “The whirlpool of corruption into which the FAPSI leadership has been sucked,” states Moskovsky Komsomolets.
What kind of corruption is there, such theft can only be interpreted as betrayal!
Read on. “Novaya Gazeta” on September 21, 1997 asks the question: “How many apartments does the general director of FAPSI and his deputies have?” And he lists. One general Monastyretsky has: one worth 1 million 300 thousand dollars, the other worth 2 million 600 thousand dollars... And there are 70 such generals in FAPSI! And this organization is not fattening on mafia money. It turns out that Monastyretsky was taken into active development by the German BND intelligence. And Starovoitov, while in Germany with his son, stopped by Luxembourg and withdrew 300 thousand dollars from a bank account there. Whose? Moreover. He is detained by French intelligence and interrogated for about six hours without a break. A lot can be said in this time!
Russia, it turns out, does not have a doctrine of its own information security!
It has already been reported in the press that the Ministry of Defense and FAPSI protect only their own professional secrets. No protection of state electronic resources! Naturally, the non-state sector of the economy and the banking database remain completely unprotected.
Until 1997, I believed that, at least, the Central Bank was covered by the most reliable FAPSI systems today. But Novaya Gazeta (No. 46, 1997), under the headline “How to steal a billion from the Central Bank,” publishes a statement from one hacker: “To get into the Central Bank, I need a room with a dozen computers. In two months I will transfer three billion to my account..."
“The entire security system with security of armored rooms, computer control, etc. seems worthless and absurd today,” the newspaper concludes. “Since there is no barrier that a new generation hacker, a territory hacker, cannot take...”
An authoritative specialist, retired lieutenant general, former head of the Information Directorate of the Foreign Intelligence Service, Doctor of Science, professor at MGIMO Nikolai Leonov, speaking as a commentator on this publication, says the following:
“The US Department of Defense records up to 350 attempts to penetrate the Pentagon data bank every month! In Germany, a young hacker was able to decipher and make public the negotiations that were taking place at a NATO base... In the coming century, hackers will become real super-intelligence officers who do not need to go anywhere or risk their lives. Armed only with a personal computer, they will sit somewhere in a dacha in the Moscow region... In the 21st century, those countries that lag behind in electronics will find themselves in a defenseless position. Today, Russian intelligence services are deprived of funds for the development of research work. This is where Russia has an unenviable future..."
Leonov emphasized that “today electronic security hacking is the highest paid profession,” and “in Russia, hackers have one customer – crime.” The professor ended his comment with a killer phrase:
“Fifteen years ago we were forced to buy Siemens complexes for military institutes. We are still not sure that they are not giving out information to strangers...”
Incomprehensible FAPSI situation
On March 11, 2003, Vladimir Putin abolished the Federal Agency for Government Communications and Information, the functions of which were divided between the Ministry of Defense and the FSB. At the same time, the president reformed other government structures of the security bloc. Thus, he abolished the Federal Tax Police Service (FSNP), and the functions of the Federal Border Service (FBS)
transferred to the jurisdiction of the Federal Security Service (FSB).FAPSI was abolished as an agency. In this regard, a number of questions arise, the resolution of which is determined by one or another scenario for the development of the domestic information security (information security) market. But before that, let’s talk about what the agency actually did.
What is FAPSI FAPSI was created in accordance with the Decree of the President of Russia of December 24, 1991 to solve two main tasks:
- ensuring the functioning, development and information security of the technological basis of the state management system in peacetime and wartime;
- countering, within its competence, threats to Russia’s security in the information sphere.
Historically, FAPSI, of course, is the heir to the KGB of the USSR, as a result of whose reorganization several independent intelligence services were created, including the Federal Agency. FAPSI united some technical and scientific research units of the former KGB, as well as a number of government organizations and enterprises that were involved in the development of special telecommunications, information security tools, as well as special and information technology support for government bodies.
Recently, FAPSI has been dealing with such issues as electronic digital signature (see article by Andrey Akopyants “EDS - the year in law”, “KT” #482), secure document flow, licensing of production and circulation of cryptographic means.
One of FAPSI's priority tasks is to participate in countering threats to Russia's information security associated with the use of unauthorized access to information and the disabling of electronic control systems. As for cryptography, FAPSI was the lead organization for information protection. Cryptographic tasks are science-intensive, and the work is carried out jointly with the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Cryptography of the Russian Federation. Under the leadership of FAPSI, encryption technology was created for Russian organizations. It also provided ministries and departments with key documents reliably protected from hacking (key documents here mean both the certificates themselves and the algorithms). Within its competence, FAPSI exercised state control over the provision of information security in encrypted communication networks in Russia, licensing and certification in the field of information security, etc.
Recently, the Agency has been mastering a new area of practical cryptography - providing information security using Russian smart cards; measures have been developed to protect automated control systems of so-called critical technologies, the disruption of the normal functioning of which can undermine the state’s economy and lead to man-made and environmental disasters.
FAPSI and the cipher market
Recently, information needs have been growing at an unprecedented pace. At the same time, the vulnerability of the information itself has increased significantly. It is clear that the widespread introduction of IT in any country that cares about its independence and security must be accompanied by a state policy for the protection of national information resources 1
, which is in the interests of FAPSI. Such protection can be effectively achieved through the use of cryptographic means, which can be used not only to encrypt messages, but also for other purposes. For example, to ensure the authenticity of transmitted information, digital signatures are widely used, in the development of which the Federal Agency participated.
Among other things, FAPSI presented samples of our encryption technology at international exhibitions. Here are some of the most interesting developments:
- "Gamma", "Alpha", "Omega" - devices that provide encryption of speech, fax messages and data when working in various networks;
- "Kord" - a device for linear encryption of high-speed information flows up to 8 Mbit/s, generated by standard digital transmission systems;
- Crypto Pager - a software crypto module that provides encryption of information in paging communication systems of the POCSAG or ERMES standards;
- GSM - portable subscriber station of a cellular network of the GSM-900 standard with speech and data encryption;
- "Crypto-TSP/IP" - data encryptor in TCP/IP networks.
Efforts related
with the introduction of protection
In general, an information security system can be considered as a combination of two components. The first is organizational, including the creation of a full-fledged, consistent regulatory legal framework on information security issues and the deployment of an effective system for monitoring its implementation. The second is the development, justification (certification) and implementation of complexes of reliable information security tools.
Until recently, the development of both components of the protection of modern information technologies lagged behind the rapid pace of creation of these technologies themselves. As an example, we can cite the most important means of protecting information from distortion - an electronic digital signature, the implementation of which began only recently, after the President approved the Federal Law “On Electronic Digital Signature” on January 10, 2002. The adoption of the law provided the legal conditions for the use of digital signatures in electronic documents, subject to which a digital signature in an electronic document is recognized as equivalent to a handwritten signature in a paper document, and laid the foundation for the creation of legally significant electronic document management.
Crisis in FAPSI
Most cryptographers in Russia worked for the Federal Agency for Government Communications and Information, whose scientific potential has always remained at its best. And everything seems to be fine. However, some experts believe that FAPSI has been steadily moving towards a severe crisis in recent years, caused by the technical impotence of domestic producers and, to put it mildly, the wrong policies (especially personnel) of its leadership. They also believe that recently the Federal Agency, which spent huge budget money, has never pleased taxpayers with any completed national project 2
, not to mention technical or software solutions suitable for use in modern information systems. And this despite the fact that at different times the agency had many chances to enter the market with competitive developments...
Will the situation change now, after the transfer of the department's functions from FAPSI to the Ministry of Defense and the FSB?
Unresolved issues
After the abolition of the Federal Agency, a whole series of questions arose, the answers to which, apparently, will appear later - after the direct transfer of functions to other government agencies.
FAPSI was the body licensing the creation and distribution of cryptographic and encryption tools. Who will now be in charge of licensing manufacturers of cryptographic tools? Will licensing functions be transferred to the FSB?
Through the efforts of FAPSI, a certification and licensing center was created, which issued permits for the trial operation of certification centers. What will happen to him?
How will the reorganization of departments affect Russian crypto producers? It is worth noting that in the field of information security, foreign developers are increasingly active in Russia. Will our cryptosystems be able to compete with foreign analogues? Who will undertake the task of making Russian crypto-currency compatible with them?
Transfer of structural As is known, after the reorganization, FAPSI General Director V.G. Matyukhin will head the State Committee for Defense Orders under the Ministry of Defense. The functions of the agency itself will apparently be transferred to the FSB, and government communications troops, radio intelligence units and engineering and construction units will be transferred to the Ministry of Defense. As for government communications and information bodies in federal districts and constituent entities of the Russian Federation, educational institutions and research centers, it is not yet known where they will move. Perhaps also under the control of the FSB.
FAPSI divisions
