Roskomnadzor will control data storage in enterprise networks

Roskomnadzor will assume obligations to control the storage of information by the owners of technological communication networks. This is stated in the draft government decree developed by the Ministry of Digital Development and published for public discussion on the portal of regulatory legal acts on April 6, 2023.

The draft resolution is a by-law to Law No. 75-FZ, which was adopted on March 18, 2023. These are amendments to the Law “On Communications”, which will come into force on September 1, 2023. In accordance with the amendments, the owners of technological communication networks with number of an autonomous system (that is, with its own Internet access) must store traffic data for three years and provide access to them during operational-search activities. To do this, they must install special systems (SORM). The draft resolution specifies that the owners of technological communication networks must store information about the very facts of receiving, transmitting, delivering and (or) processing information, data on the interaction of users and about themselves in these networks.

“Large corporations have their own technological communication networks. Such networks are not used to provide communication services, but, for example, to manage processes in production,” the representative of the Ministry of Digital Development specified.

The proposal to assign the responsibility for monitoring compliance with the requirements of the law to Roskomnadzor (RKN) was first discussed at a meeting of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy on February 15, Vedomosti reported. Then the deputy head of the ILV Oleg Terlyakov said that in order to carry out the new functions of the ILV, additional funding would be required to finalize the system and increase the staff.

Commenting on the new draft resolution, a representative of Roskomnadzor said that he could not provide additional information.

Technological communication networks form a closed environment for the transmission of traffic coming from engineering and technological systems, notes Andrey Yatskov, Advisor to the General Director of Tsifra Group. In practice, the owners of such communication networks are telecom operators and large manufacturing companies. According to the law “On Communications”, technological communication networks are designed to ensure the production activities of organizations, manage technological processes in production, agrees lawyer, teacher of the educational platform Moscow Digital School Nikita Danilov.

At the same time, a communication network is understood as a technological system that includes means and communication lines and is intended for telecommunications, he continues. That is, it can be, for example, a technological infrastructure created in industrial production.

The requirement to store information will make it possible to control production processes, notes Aleksey Boyko, an analyst at MForum.

But in February 2023, a member of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Anton Gorelkin (United Russia), specified to Vedomosti that the amendments are not only about networks of enterprises, but also networks of any digital services.

We can also talk about technological networks with an autonomous system number (ASN), which are not used for the direct provision of communication services, unlike operator networks, confirms Alexander Sivolobov, deputy head of the NTI Competence Center based on Skoltech for wireless communication technologies and the Internet of Things . For example, such networks include the largest Russian corporations, web hosters, Internet companies and marketplaces.

The issue can be resolved depending on the network construction scheme and its connection to the Internet, explains a Vedomosti source close to one of the telecom operators. “If the network is connected to the Internet through a telecom operator, it is possible to use the SORM of this operator. If the network has an autonomous Internet connection, the owner of the technical network himself ensures the storage of the necessary information,” the source says.

According to the Yarovaya Law, which is already in force, telecom operators must store all call records and messages from subscribers for six months, and metadata about connection facts for three years. It has a more extended effect than the legislative novel, which will come into force on September 1, 2023, continues the source of Vedomosti. If the Yarovaya law obliges to store the content of messages and the fact of transmission, then the bill being passed is only the fact of transmission.

In addition, there are difficulties with the installation of SORM: capacities are in short supply, equipment is becoming more expensive, Boyko warns. At the same time, the financial burden from the loss of information is more significant than the organization of the installation of SORM on technological networks, he draws attention. If an organization is not ready to ensure the installation of SORM on its own, then most likely it will buy an “outsourcing” service from telecom operators, i.e. to ensure the transit of traffic of the affiliated operator through its communication center, on which the SORM complex has already been implemented, believes Dmitry Galushko, CEO of the consulting company Ordercom.

“Beeline“,”Megaphone” and Tele2 refrained from commenting. IN MTS did not respond to the request. Vedomosti sent inquiries to the owners of large technological networks – “Gazprom oil, Sibur, Russian Railways and Rosatom.