Russian Big Brother Keeps an Eye on Foreigners' Internet Connection

If you're one of the people who often travel to Russia on business, you had rather left your Wi-Fi enabled mobile gadgets at home. As previously reported, the Russian authorities have formed a super-agency, called Rossvyazokhrankultura (short for the Russian Mass Media, Communications and Cultural Protection Service), that regulates the use of Wi-Fi-capable appliances.

According to Vladimir Karpov, the deputy director of the agency's communications monitoring division, any Wi-Fi device that operates inside the country must be registered and approved. The regulatory agency is allowed to confiscate any networking gear or Wi-Fi terminals that have not been registered.

The registration requirements include public hotspots, home networks, laptops, smart phones and Wi-Fi-enabled PDAs. More than that, according to Karpov, the registration agreement clearly stipulates that right of use is granted only to the registrant, so other users will not be able to share a Wi-Fi home PC connection.

It seems that the restrictions also apply to tourists or business travelers. However, the registration process takes up to 10 days. Foreigners might as well end their stay on the Russian territory before they get the Wi-Fi approval.

However, registering a hotspot in the metropolitan area of Sankt Petersburg or Moscow is a little more complicated and requires additional documents and technological certifications, as well as the additional approval of two federal agencies.

"Setting up a home Wi-Fi network or a hotspot would require what sounds like vast amounts of paperwork, akin to putting a cell tower," commented wireless expert Glenn Fleishman, in a blog post.

Security company Sophos called Russia a "spam superpower", as the country is one of the biggest refuges for miscellaneous types of Internet criminality, such as malware and exploits. However, the new restriction imposed by the Russian agency would not automatically lead to a drop in cyber-criminality, as outlaw networks can mind their business on wired networks.