News of the week: major events in IT and science

Telecom operators against the introduction of eSim, antivirus developers are required to disclose the source code of the product, China plans to ban mining cryptocurrency, the Russian government will monitor the equipment of the “autonomous runet”, and the EU wants legislative protection from AI threats.

Telecoms and FSB vs eSim

The Big Three and FSB operators opposed the adoption of eSim technology , which allows you to connect to any cellular network without buying a SIM card. Operators do not like the technology because it allows the subscriber to replace the tariff plan or the service provider at any time. According to market participants, the emergence of such technology in Russia will provoke increased competition and collapse in revenue. And since companies now have to spend money on the implementation of the provisions of the “Spring Law” and the development of technology, there is no extra money.
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The FSB is unhappy that eSim does not work with domestic cryptography.

Antivirus developers are required to open source code

The Federal Service for Technical and Export Control (FSTEC) recently announced the approval of updated software requirements from the field of information security. In particular, developers of a wide range of software versions related to information security should conduct tests to identify vulnerabilities and undeclared capabilities before the end of the year.

There will be several consequences: firstly, the FSTEC services are not free, plus the certification process is rather lengthy. This will cause difficulties in the work of a large number of anti-virus software vendors. Secondly, developers will have to open the source code of their products, which far from all companies will go for. Most likely, foreign manufacturers will refuse, and only domestic developers will remain on the market.

WhatsApp starts fighting spam and fakes

The messengers often send spam and fake news. This is especially true for WhatsApp. In the near future, Facebook, which owns the messenger, is going to introduce a tool to combat fake news , which often leads to problems for both companies and ordinary users. Now a function is being tested that does not allow to send the same message within group chats a large number of times. Work with the new feature so far can only administrators.

China wants to ban cryptocurrency

The National Development and Reform Commission of China (NDRC) has published a draft document that lists industries that require support, restrictions or prohibition. One of the points - mining cryptocurrency, the drafters of the document made it in the section of prohibitions .

The problem with cryptocurrency in China arose not suddenly. The government of the country believes that mining, as an energy-intensive process, harms the country's economy, diverting useful resources to itself. At the same time, they can be used for industry.

That is why mining can completely ban. True, the Chinese government still has to approve the ban for it to enter into force.

The government gets control over the equipment of the "sovereign Internet"

Deputies of the State Duma transferred to the government the authority to determine the order of installation , use and modernization of the network operator of the device to counter external threats. We are talking about technical means that provide the ability to disconnect the Internet from the external network, the global Internet.

In addition, the State Duma also introduced amendments to approve requirements for the operation of traffic exchange points and the obligations of their owners to connect to such points of communication networks. The rules will not be determined by Roskomnadzor, but by the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Communications in coordination with the FSB.

EU introduces protection against AI at the legislative level

European Union officials have prepared a bill to regulate the rules for the development of artificial intelligence technologies . The rules must ensure that artificial laws adhere to existing laws and ethical norms. But the main point is that AI-technologies should be created to enhance the capabilities of people and be safe ..