Twitter to ‘store’ user data of Russians: govt

Polish cybersecurity in skies

MOSCOW, Nov 9, (Agencies): Russia’s telecoms watchdog said Wednesday that Twitter had agreed to store the personal data of Russian nationals on servers located in Russia by mid-2018 to avoid the prospect of a ban.

The statement from Roskomnadzor came after progovernment newspaper Izvestia earlier Wednesday reported that Twitter had agreed to comply with Russian legislation and was now looking for sites for its servers in Russia.

“On April 13, 2017 Roskomnadzor received a letter from Twitter confirming its readiness to locate servers in Russia by the middle of 2018,” the telecoms watchdog said in a statement sent to AFP.

The watchdog had received the letter following a meeting between Twitter representatives and Roskomnadzor officials in March, it said, adding it was monitoring the implementation of the agreement. There was no official comment from Twitter but a source close to the matter told AFP that Twitter had only agreed to “review” the law.

Twitter is “only reviewing users with ‘commercial relationships’ — that is, advertisers only and no decision has been made,” the source said.

The company wants to ensure that the storage of data in separate locations (outside the United States) “does not create a security risk or any vulnerability for Russian users and their accounts,” the source added.

A 2014 law requiring foreign messaging services, search engines and social networking sites to store the personal data of Russian users inside the country has caused widespread concern as it was seen as putting the information at risk of being accessed by Russian intelligence services. Twitter and Facebook are widely used by the opposition to President Vladimir Putin to coordinate protests and make political statements.

Russia is gearing up for a presidential election in March.

Putin

Poland eyes cybersecurity in skies:

Poland on Wednesday agreed to test a cybersecurity pilot programme for the aviation sector as Europe’s EASA civil aviation authority tackles the potential threats posed by hackers to air traffic.

“We want to have a single point in the air transport sector that will coordinate all cybersecurity activities ... for airlines, airports and air traffic,” Piotr Samson, head of Poland’s ULC civil aviation authority, said in Krakow, southern Poland, at a two-day conference cohosted with the EASA. While insisting that air travel is currently safe from cyber attacks, EASA executive director Patrick Ky told AFP it was incumbent on aviation authorities to take preventative measures to mitigate potential cyber-threats.

Polish officials attending the “Cybersecurity in Civil Aviation” conference also announced the creation of a “rapid reaction unit” for cybersecurity incidents.

Despite the assurances of experts in the field, computer systems failures triggered by hackers or accident have caused flight chaos in recent years.

Paratroopers to earn ‘wings’:

Serbian and US paratroopers will jump side-by-side during a joint exercise aimed at strengthening military ties with Serbia, the US general in charge of NATO’s Allied Air Command said, a move that could trigger protests from Moscow.

In the exercise, which is taking place at the invitation of the Serbian government, paratroopers from both countries will jump side-by-side from 2 C-130J transport planes built by Lockheed Martin Corp in a so-called insertion exercise.

About 100 US Air Force and US Army personnel will participate in the event, General Tod Wolters, who also oversees US Air Forces in Europe and Africa, told Reuters. “They will actually get their paratroop wings as a result of these activities. These are confidence-building activities — relationships that will last for a lifetime. And they will certainly enhance the technical expertise of the Serbs,” he said.