The KGB may not be watching Russian citizens at every square foot any longer, but its successor is said to be monitoring on an unlimited level private e-mails and electronic banking, by way of data links connected to every major Russian Internet service provider.
And privacy watchdogs say this network is being abused for profit, theft, and blackmail already, according to the Times of London.
The paper says the System for Operational Investigative Activities was introduced "quietly" in late 1998, the Times says, under government rules which required no parliamentary approval. It's said to be one of Russia's most ambitious internal espionage programs since the collapse of the Soviet Union and is now in full force, according to the Moscow Times. That paper says SOIA has the cooperation of 350 Internet companies who had to pay for its construction.
The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) is able to monitor electronic communication without search warrants. Its defenders in Parliament insist it's a cost-effective way to track cybercrime, but various reports suggest few in Russia believe the FSB is shy about selling its information to the highest bidder.
