A subcontractor who works for both the internal security services, military intelligence and foreign intelligence? This is one of the points that surprised the experts to whom The world and its partners showed documents from the “Vulkan Files”, this vast set of internal files from the Russian company Vulkan, which develops IT tools on behalf of several clients. Traditionally, the Russian FSB (internal security), GRU (military intelligence) and SVR (external intelligence) distrust each other, communicate little and avoid using the same tools – so much so that in 2016 the Both the GRU and the SVR had, without concert, hacked into the emails of the US Democratic Party.
But, since the beginning of the 2010s, the country’s security services have been trying to increase their cyber capacities at a forced march, without always having the means internally for their ambitions, and are increasing the use of subcontractors. In 2013, before the rectors of the major Russian universities, the Minister of Defense, Sergei Shoigu, sent a very clear message: “We are starting the great hunt for programmers. » The military needs more high-level computer scientists.
The same year, Vladimir Putin ordered the creation of the NTSOUO, the National Defense Control Center, responsible for putting into practice the concept of “hybrid warfare”, combining conventional military operations, cyberattacks, propaganda and clandestine operations.
The “hybrid war” will be implemented the following year, during the invasion of Crimea. But in Moscow, this doctrine also has the effect of giving a major boost to the military-industrial complex. The Russian army, like most armies, already had recourse to subcontractors, but the evolution of the doctrine offers new prospects for contracts to computer companies like Vulkan, which have the necessary accreditations to work on secret-defence projects and have contacts with research institutes working for the military.
“Securing” and controlling the Russian Internet
Internal Vulkan documents, which The world and its partners were able to consult, show that Project Skan, an extensive database of computer vulnerabilities and potential targets, was designed for Russian military intelligence. The tool fits perfectly into the concept of “hybrid warfare” since it is designed to facilitate operations combining espionage, destructive hacking and “physical” targets.
You have 57.05% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.