OREANDA-NEWS. July 12, 2013. The Russian Telecom Equipment Company (RTEC) operated as a Gold Partner of the Eurasian information security forum – “Infoforum Eurasia/City”. The event took place in the premises of the Government of Moscow. It was supported by the Security and Anti-Corruption Committee of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, office of the Security Council of the Russian Federation and other Russian ministries and government agencies.  At the forum, RTEC was active in discussing the problems of national security. 

Nikolai Volobuyev, deputy general director of State Corporation Rostechnologii (Rostech), in his keynote speech at the plenary session of the forum talked about involving Russian industrial capabilities in raising the security level of critically important infrastructural objects. In particular, he spoke about complex automated security system (CASS) developed by Rostech's daughter company - the Russian Telecom Equipment Company.

"The main task of the system is informational support of the entire security management cycle from data capturing and monitoring to decision-making and accumulation of knowledge", said Nikolai Volobuyev in his keynote.  "It is a multi-level system starting with an object or territory and ending with information support of federal structures.  CASS is based on the locally designed components and trusted equipment provided by RTEC."

Stressing the importance of the subject, Nikolai Volobuyev noted:  "Russian leaders are continuously trying to improve resilience of critically important objects of Russian infrastructure, because we can see growing threats aimed against those objects.  It happens all over the world:  in the Russian Federation and abroad.  All of us know too well how those objects can be negatively affected, in particular, through computer networks.  Our approach to protection of critically important infrastructure objects should obviously include proactive measures and maximum mitigation of negative consequences.  An additional issue requiring our attention is the problem of enhancing legislation and developing a packet of documents supporting improved security of critically important infrastructure."

In his speech Nikolai Volobuyev talked about the existing legislative base covering security of critically important infrastructure objects and compared that legislative base with international experience:  "By now, a lot of normative documents have been developed.  Unfortunately, many of them were born not as a result of systematic scheduled work, but reflected negative incidents that already had occurred and required immediate actions. In this situation one can hardly talk about correlation or harmonization of such documents. That is why it is very important to complement key legislative acts covering security of industrial objects with appropriate normative documents."

Talking about the importance of certified hardware, Nikolai Volobuyev stressed:  "It is obvious that security systems (even if they do not deal with top government secrets) should not be based on untrusted hardware and software.  This issue directly affects operational continuity of critically important infrastructure."

Nikolai Volobuyev also noted the necessity of interaction between mission-critical security systems and Safe and Smart City applications.  It helps to build a common information space for coordination and harmonization of multi-level interdepartmental interaction.  A clear example of such interaction of the Safe City project in the city of Krasnoyarsk implemented by RTEC for the regional administration.  "Safe City is an advanced intelligent security system which can instantly detect an incident and send a police patrol to the spot," said Nikolai  Volobuyev.  "It is the first ever large-scale information system fully based on locally produced set of hardware and software.  It immediately sends an alarm about a detected incident to police command and control center (02 service).  02 service operators and police patrol dispatchers monitor the situation from one central location which helps them quickly react to the alarm."

In the final part of his speech, Nikolai Volobuyev made a few proposals that would help to secure critically important infrastructure more efficiently.  They are:

-       Development of harmonized normative documents;

-       Adoption of national task-oriented programs;

-       Development of government policy about trusted equipment;

-    Usage of experience accumulated by State Corporation Rostechnologii and RTEC; discussion
of the possibility of applying that experience in different areas of critically important infrastructure.
 
The Safe City project and the complex security system were discussed in detail by RTEC specialists at various sections and meetings of the Infoforum.  At the end of the Forum RTEC was awarded an honorary diploma for active participation in the conference.  RTEC's booth at the Forum was visited by representatives of Russian ministries and government agencies, as well as by representatives of regional authorities and businesses.