FAPSI
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

FAPSI (russian: ФАПСИ) or Federal Agency of Government Communications and Information (FAGCI) (russian: Федеральное Агентство Правительственной Связи и Информации) was a Russian government agency, which was responsible for
signal intelligence Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly used in communication ( ...
and security of governmental communications. The present-day FAPSI successor agencies are the relevant departments of the
Federal Security Service The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) RF; rus, Федеральная служба безопасности Российской Федерации (ФСБ России), Federal'naya sluzhba bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Feder ...
(FSB) and Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) as well as the
Special Communications Service of Russia The Special Communications and Information Service of the Federal Protective Service of the Russian Federation (Spetssvyaz, ''Spetssviaz''; russian: Служба специальной связи и информации, Спецсвязь Рос ...
(''Spetssvyaz'') (part of the Federal Protective Service of the Russian Federation) (FSO RF).


History


Creation

FAPSI was created from the 8th Main Directorate (Government Communications) and 16th Directorate (Electronic Intelligence) of the
KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...
. It is the equivalent to the USA
National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...
. On September 25, 1991, Soviet president
Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...
dismantled the KGB into several independent departments. One of them became the Committee on Government Communications under the President of Soviet Union. On December 24, 1991 after the disbanding of the Soviet Union the organization became the Federal Agency of Government Communications and Information under the President of Russian Federation.


Dissolution

On March 11, 2003 the agency was reorganized into the Service of Special Communications and Information (''Spetssvyaz'', ''Spetssviaz'') (russian: Служба специальной связи и информации) of the
Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) RF; rus, Федеральная служба безопасности Российской Федерации (ФСБ России), Federal'naya sluzhba bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Feder ...
(FSB RF). On August 7, 2004, ''Spetssviaz'' was incorporated as a structural sub unit of the Federal Protective Service of the Russian Federation (FSO RF).


Structure

According to the press, the structure of FAPSI copied the structure of the US
National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...
, it includes: * Chief R&D Directorate (Главное научно-техническое управление) * Chief directorate of government communications * Chief directorate of security of communications * Chief directorate of information technology (Главное управление информационных систем) * Special troops of FAPSI * Academy of Cryptography * Military School of FAPSI in
Voronezh Voronezh ( rus, links=no, Воро́неж, p=vɐˈronʲɪʂ}) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the ...
, sometimes referred as the world largest hacker's school * Military school of communications in Orel * Moscow Department of Penza Scientific Research Electrotechnics Institute (МО ПНИЭИ), manufacturer of software and hardware used by the above agencies


Chiefs


16th Directorate of the KGB

* Nikolai Nikolaevich Andreev (1968–1973) *
Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...
Igor Vasilievich Maslov (1973–?)


Committee on Government Communications under President of Soviet Union

* General Aleksandr Vladimirovich Starovoitov (1991)


Federal Agency of Government Communications and Information

* General Aleksandr Vladimirovich Starovoitov (1991–1998) * Vladislav Petrovich Sherstyuk (1998–1999) – former chief of Radio-electronics intelligence department of the agency * Vladimir Georgievich Matykhin (1999–2003) – a civilian specialist on
cryptography Cryptography, or cryptology (from grc, , translit=kryptós "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or ''-logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adver ...
and data protection


Service of Special Communications and Information (FAPSI successor)

* Yuri P. Kornev (2003–2010) * Aleksey Mironov (since 2010)


FAPSI and the Internet

FAPSI was always interested in monitoring of Internet activities. In 1994 it bought major Russian internet provider of that time
RELCOM RELCOM or Relcom (russian: РЕЛКОМ, Релком), an acronym for "RELiable COMmunications" is a computer network in Russia. It was launched in the Soviet Union on August 1, 1990 in the Kurchatov Institute in collaboration with DEMOS co-operat ...
. According to their explanation they were not interested in interception of the network traffic, but in Internet experience of the firm and in utilization of "FAPSI's excess computing power and network bandwidth". In 1995 by decree of President
Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...
all cryptographic systems except those licensed by FAPSI were forbidden in the Russian Federation. There are widespread rumors that all systems licensed by FAPSI have backdoors allowing the agency to freely access the encrypted information. Since 1998 they require that all Internet providers in Russia install their hardware named
SORM The System for Operative Investigative Activities (SORM; russian: Система оперативно-разыскных мероприятий) is the technical specification for lawful interception interfaces of telecommunications and telephone n ...
(СОРМ – Система Оперативно-Розыскных Мероприятий, System of Operative Investigative Actions) that allows filtering and remote control of internet traffic from FAPSI headquarters. Internet providers must pay for the devices (around US$15,000) directly to FAPSI. Despite the original resistance of Internet providers they complied. It is claimed, however, that no legal document requires ISPs to provide these services free of charge, and some people report that one large
St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
ISP told FSB that it does not decline their request, but is going to bill them appropriately, for which this ISP never saw FSB come back.


Mishaps of the agency

One of the tasks of the agency was to protect government websites from getting hacked. Sometime they fail to do it by a very simple scenario - the domain is not paid for in time and becomes a trophy of
cybersquatting Cybersquatting (also known as domain squatting) is the practice of registering, trafficking in, or using an Internet domain name, with a bad faith intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else. The term is derived f ...
. In January 2004, the election site registered personally for
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
was not paid for in time and became a
pornographic Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of Human sexual activity, sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,
site. Eventually the site was closed down.


See also

*
Special Communications Service of Russia The Special Communications and Information Service of the Federal Protective Service of the Russian Federation (Spetssvyaz, ''Spetssviaz''; russian: Служба специальной связи и информации, Спецсвязь Рос ...
(''Spetssviaz'') *
Federal Protective Service (Russia) The Federal Protective Service, or the Federal Guard Service (russian: Федеральная служба охраны, ФСО, Federalnaya sluzhba okhrany, FSO) of the Russian Federation, official name in English Federal Guard Service of the Ru ...
*
Federal Security Service (Russia) The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) RF; rus, Федеральная служба безопасности Российской Федерации (ФСБ России), Federal'naya sluzhba bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Feder ...
*
National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...
(US) *
GCHQ Government Communications Headquarters, commonly known as GCHQ, is an intelligence and security organisation responsible for providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) and information assurance (IA) to the government and armed forces of the Unit ...
(UK) *
Communications Security Establishment The Communications Security Establishment (CSE; french: Centre de la sécurité des télécommunications, ''CST''), formerly (from 2008-2014) called the Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC), is the Government of Canada's national c ...
(Canada)


References


External links


English


FAPSI Operations
- by
Federation of American Scientists The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) is an American nonprofit global policy think tank with the stated intent of using science and scientific analysis to attempt to make the world more secure. FAS was founded in 1946 by scientists who wo ...

Jonathan Littell, "The Security Organs of the Russian Federation. A Brief History 1991-2004"
Psan Publishing House 2006.

part 1

part 2


Russian

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fapsi KGB Russian intelligence agencies Federal Security Service
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
Cryptography organizations