Security11.07.2013

Russian spies protect info with old-school tech

Old Typewriter

Russian security services prefer old-fashioned technology over computers when dealing with sensitive information, media reports said on Thursday.

The Federal Guard Service, which is responsible for protecting top government officials, has just ordered 20 typewriters, the Izvestia newspaper reported. It linked the decision to recent revelations by US whistleblower Edward Snowden about massive US data mining efforts.

The Kremlin has widened the use of paper-only documents because of Snowden’s account that British and US agencies tapped then-president Dmitry Medvedev’s phonecalls during a G20 summit in London in 2009, the report said.

It added that typewriters are used for secret documents on the grounds that they leave no electronic trace.

A security source said that typewriters have always been used by Russia’s intelligence services. “This is common practice to safeguard information security,” the unnamed source told the Itar-Tass news agency.

The Izvestia report said that Russian spies sometimes use “Twen” typewriters, made by German firm Triumph-Adler.

Security services’ preference, on occasion, for low-tech equipment was recently highlighted by the case of suspected CIA spy Ryan Fogle, who was paraded on Russian state television in May over accusations that he tried to hire an agent.

Fogle’s “spy kit” is said to have included an outdated mobile phone, a map, a compass, sunglasses and two wigs.

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