Inside Cyber Warfare - Jeffrey Carr [142]
The cyber vigilantes
Roskomnadzor efforts to control extremist Internet content is assisted by the public minded citizens of the Safe Internet League (Liga Bezopasnogo Interneta). Its symbol is shown in Figure 15-5.
Figure 15-5. Safe Internet League symbol
A nonprofit partnership, the Safe Internet League was registered in mid-February 2011, with Igor Shchegolev, Minister of Communications and Mass Media, as Trustee Board Chairman. The League’s address is a box number at Minsvyaz’s Moscow headquarters. The Board of Trustees includes the head of the FSB Information Security Center, Mail.ru’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Roskomnadzor’s Director, the heads of the major Russian telecommunications companies, and other Russian Internet figures. The League’s membership includes:
Rostelecom
Russia’s national telecommunications and Internet provider
MTS
Telecommunication component of AFK Sistema
Vimpelcom
Telecommunication provider
Megaphone
Mobile telecommunication provider
Mail.ru Group
Russia’s largest Internet company and social media host
Kaspersky Labs
Russia’s largest Internet security company
Axis-TD
Group of programmers and psychologists devoted to safe Internet
Entensys
Russian Internet security company
Internet Development Fund
Nonprofit supporting Internet development
ROCIT
Russia’s oldest Internet industry organization
Friendly Runet
Internet promotion organization
According to its website, the Safe Internet League is a voluntary association of citizens devoted to helping law enforcement organizations. Its volunteers monitor the Internet for violations, and report those violations to law enforcement. The site posts detailed information on the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) Directorate K—the MVD component responsible for Internet crime—and provides a direct email link for reporting violations. In the league’s view, violations include child pornography, pornography accessible to children, promotion of drug and alcohol abuse, and violent or “extremist” content.
Despite the prominent role assigned to countering child pornography, the league’s actual focus is social media.[107] The league’s website awards its members ranks based on the social networking sites they identify that contain malicious content. Social networking sites are already heavily monitored for pornographic content; however, political comment runs rampant. Indeed, Russian press points out that the Safe Internet League’s creation coincides with the prominent role assigned to social media during the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings. In the press’ view, the league is actually an attempt to extend law enforcement’s monitoring to match social media’s expansion.
Ostensibly, the Safe Internet League is funded by the Saint Basil the Great Foundation (www.ruscharity.ru), which is headed by Konstantin Malofeyev. Mr. Malofeyev is also managing partner for the Russian private equity fund Marshall Capital Partners. Marshall Capital Partners’ major accomplishment is losing millions of dollars for Western private equity funds investing in Russia. In recognition, Mr. Malofeyev was appointed to Rostelecom’s board. When interviewed by Russian press, Mr. Malofeyev declined to name the ultimate funding source for the Safe Internet League.
The Safe Internet League is probably created and backed by Russian security services. The Russian Law On Operational Search Activities, NZ 144-03, details the methods available to Russian law enforcement and security services in “obtaining information about events or actions that threaten the state.” Article 6 states that search activities on technical communication channels “are carried out using the operational and technical capabilities of the Federal Security