Hacker Call

RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 9, No. 105, Part I, 3 June 2005

IS GOVERNMENT LOOKING FOR A FEW GOOD HACKERS?

At the beginning of this month, announcements began appearing in the specialized press and on the Internet saying that the Interior Ministry is looking to hire former computer hackers, "Nezavisimaya gazeta" reported on 3 June. The daily speculated that the announcement could be connected with the government's concern about a possible "colored" revolution in Russia and its desire to control the spread of oppositionist information via the Internet. It reported that hackers shut down the anti-Putin site Walking Without Putin in January, replacing it with a call to show greater respect for the president. The daily quoted the Federal Security Service's (FSB) Information Security Department director, Dmitrii Frolov, as saying the FSB's authority in the area of Internet control "must be significantly broadened." The Internet, he said, is becoming increasingly influential and could be used "to mobilize political forces against the authorities." In January 2002, the FSB refused to press charges against hackers who violated the Kavkaz-Tsentr website, which supports the Chechen resistance, saying that the hacking did not violate the law and was merely a way for the students to express their views as Russian citizens (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 1 February 2002). RC

(via chechnya-sl)