Intelligence agencies have problems with interception of messages in all instant messengers except ICQ

34 cases were found in court archives in which SITX was mentioned in the context of one or several text messengers

It turns out that the Russian special services are experiencing problems with the interception of messages not only of Telegram, but also of almost all other instant messengers. All but one. The machine analysis of the sentences of the Russian courts , conducted by Novaya Gazeta, makes it possible to conclude: special services can only read messages in real time in the ICQ messenger from Mail.ru. The rest interfere with all sorts of protective mechanisms.

In ORM (operative-search activities) slang, the wiretap of user correspondence is called SITX: “removing information from technical communication channels”. There are four main ways:
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1. password cracking
2. installation Trojan
3. reading "on the fly" through the servers of the owner of the messenger,
4. physical withdrawal device.

The use of SITKS is necessarily mentioned in a court sentence if evidence was obtained by this method. This makes it possible to assume in which messengers protection is removed easily and which companies provide access to messages of their users.

For all cases, SITX was analyzed what happened before: the removal of the phone (computer) or reading the information. Obviously, if a physical removal of the device first occurred, then there is SITKS No. 4 method (of course, if you do not take into account possible ways of camouflaging their actions by the operatives when they try to legalize the evidence). Otherwise, methods 1–3 were used.

In 21 cases out of 34, information was removed after the device was removed; in 6 cases it is difficult to determine what happened before. And only in 7 cases it is possible to speak with confidence about the “online withdrawal” of information from communication channels, writes Novaya Gazeta. Six of these seven cases are about ICQ. In 9 cases with the Telegram, “withdrawal of information” occurred after the device was withdrawn. The same with Skype (10 cases).

Novaya Gazeta has published a comment from the Mail.ru Group press service:

“Information about such cooperation with the special services, and especially about the provision of online access to correspondence, is not true.

We are studying the invoice presented in the material for its legal assessment, including the period of time referred to in the investigation. ”

Best comment ( barbanel ): The letter S in the acronym ICQ means security.