MOSCOW (Sputnik) — In Thursday's report on government software procurement to President Vladimir Putin, the ministry suggested banning the use of foreign messengers, such as WhatsApp, Viber, Skype and Telegram, as well as proposing the development of a government equivalent to be developed by the Russian Mail.ru internet services giant, the Kommersant newspaper reported.
The issue of foreign messengers exposing government organizations to cyber attacks and data leaks was first raised in 2015 by Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev. Later, legislation to ban Google, Yahoo! and WhatsApp was proposed in the Russian State Duma, but was rejected.
In April, the Russian presidential administration contacted the Mail.ru Group and the Internet Development Institute, proposing to develop a messenger service for Russian government officials.
The messenger may have a user base of over two million. There are nearly 1.6 million civil servants and almost 800,000 military personnel in Russia, according to the Finance Ministry.
