The infamous “Shaltay Boltay affair” that made public a large tranche of e-mails allegedly belonging to Vladislav Surkov-the architect of the “Russian Spring”-explicitly showed the true level of dependence of the entire Russian IT industry on the FSB (see EDM, February 9).
#Yandex browser 15 software
Indeed, the Kremlin has been investing heavily in putting the domestic Internet sphere (Runet) under direct government control and is attempting to subjugate the Russian IT and software industry to its own interests. Also, it has been argued that private Yandex e-mail accounts and other data passing through Yandex-offered web services are monitored and actively used by the FSB and Russian hackers to design effective cyber attacks against “critical infrastructure, public institutions and individuals.” Reportedly, this is accomplished by implementing search tools and mechanisms that aim to prioritize anti-Ukrainian and anti-Western online content to Yandex’s Ukrainian-based users. Multiple reports have alleged that the Russian special and intelligence services routinely use Yandex to “manipulate the collective and individual conscious of Ukrainian citizens” (, May 29). Yandex has become the fourth largest online search tool in the world and enjoys unparalleled popularity in the post-Soviet space, with populations in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan being the main users. In terms of the challenges to Ukrainian information and cyber security from Russian IT programs and software, Yandex may pose the greatest threat. In his interview, the head of the information security division of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Valentin Petrov, noted that Ukraine annually spends approximately one billion hryvnas (roughly $39 million) on Russian IT and software products ( Ukrinform.ua, May 17). Moreover, the Ukrainian side has suffered huge financial losses as a direct result of using Russian products. According to Colonel Oleksandr Tkachuk, from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), approximately 300 of the largest Ukrainian companies and corporations use Russian IT programs “directly controlled by the Russian Federal Security Service ” (, April 27). Now that the initial anxiety over that ban has somewhat subsided, it is worth analyzing other, less commented-on but no less important, elements of the decree.Īside from social networks, Poroshenko’s May 15 decree bans Russian Internet search engine giant Yandex, some information technology (IT) programs, as well as anti-virus software (including Kaspersky and Doctor Web) that have allegedly been undermining Ukrainian information and cyber security.
The recent decision by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to ban popular Russian social networks VKontakte (VK) and Odnoklassniki, on May 15 (see EDM, June 7), provoked serious debate both inside Ukraine and abroad.
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