Mobile technologies will be tested for independence

Mobile technologies will be tested for independence

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The Ministry of Industry and Trade, on behalf of the government, collects data on the security of Russian mobile operating systems (OS) and the possibility of localizing foreign ones. In the case of domestic operating systems, we can talk about the ability to provide work in the event of blocking foreign technologies, including processor architecture, experts believe. But the complete independence of the OS, they admit, is hardly to be expected – the same foreign Linux, on the basis of which a number of systems work, allows you to install Android applications that are in demand by users.

“Kommersant” got acquainted with the letter of the Department of Digital Technologies of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, sent on November 9 to 13 organizations, including Kaspersky Lab, Aquarius and the Open Mobile Platform (OMP, developer of the Aurora OS), as well as Russian manufacturers and electronics distributors.

In it, the Ministry of Industry and Trade asks companies to evaluate the security of domestic and “foreign mobile operating systems available for localization in the Russian Federation, which can be used as part of the creation of a Russian one.”

The regulator explains its request by the order of Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko. Kommersant sent a request to the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Mr. Chernyshenko’s office.

According to a top manager of one of the companies that received the letter, the Ministry of Industry and Trade is trying to understand which mobile operating systems exist in Russia in general and which of them have the potential for further development in isolation from foreign platforms and services, as well as how much it is possible to localize development and development in Russia independent foreign operating systems: “And this is not about Android, but about solutions based on their own cores.”

According to the director of the Artezio development center Dmitry Parshin, localization in this case means the adaptation of the OS to the requirements of Russian legislation and the needs of users: “We are talking about control over the collection of personal data, the availability of services, applications, and the ability to ensure the system’s performance.”

The OS security assessment is more aimed specifically at determining the level of technological independence under sanctions, that is, in isolation from foreign technologies, the interlocutor of Kommersant believes in the cybersecurity market.

We can talk about the connection of Russian operating systems with foreign technologies and developers, adds the interlocutor of Kommersant in the IT sector. In particular, he notes, the Aurora OS originally worked on the basis of the open source code of the Finnish Jolla Oy, former employees of Nokia.

Now several companies are engaged in the development of domestic mobile operating systems. OMP (owned by Rostelecom) expects to develop in the Russian Federation a line of smartphones and tablets based on the Aurora OS by 2030 (see “Kommersant” dated November 17) with a total budget of almost 500 billion rubles. and government support. The OMP did not answer “Kommersant”. But the request of the Ministry of Industry and Trade clearly means that the choice in favor of one domestic operating system has not yet been made.

Kaspersky Lab began testing KasperskyOC in 2019. From the passport of the KasperskyOC development project (Kommersant has it), which the developer sent to the development competence center “Operating Systems” (supervised by the Ministry of Digital Development), it follows that now the OS is adapted for Internet of Things (IOT) devices, and the company plans to refine it to create corporate mobile devices with a focus on security. The system was created on the basis of its own kernel and has so far been adapted to work only on the x86 and ARM processor architecture, the document says. Kaspersky Lab told Kommersant that they received a letter and sent a response.

Astra Group of Companies is also developing a Linux-based mobile OS, but so far it has been adapted only for tablets, says Roman Mylitsyn, head of research at the company: “Cooperation with Russian device manufacturers has been established, there are already serial batches on order.”

In the context of import substitution, the state is faced with the task of intensifying work on creating its own software for mobile devices, so the existing “assets” are being assessed, Dmitry Parshin adds. But the popularity of mobile operating systems is determined not by the basic capabilities of the system, but by the availability of popular applications, he notes: “And so far, the point of growth of mobile systems in Russia is the creation of an OS, for example, on Linux, which at the same time will allow you to install and use programs developed for Android “.

Tatyana Isakova, Nikita Korolev, Timofey Kornev

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