Those who have information about impending threats to Russia may now tip the Russian intelligence services off using the Tor browser on the darknet.
The message about the novel way to submit documents and other relevant information concerning Russian national security appeared on the website of the SVR, the Russian analog of the CIA.
By clicking on the ‘Report Information’ button at the bottom left corner of the main page, users may see a detailed description of the novel process:
“If you are outside Russia and have important information regarding urgent threats to the security of the Russian Federation, you can safely and anonymously share it with us via the virtual reception system (VRS) of the SVR over the TOR network,” says the page with the instructions.
It also provides the .onion address, but at the time of the publication, the address failed to load in the Tor browsers.
The intelligence body claims the new darknet system will allow informed individuals to share files and insights “safely and anonymously” and even provides detailed instructions on how to observe basic security procedures to remain anonymous to the local authorities.
“If you are in a hostile environment and/or have reasons to worry about your security, do not use a device (smartphone, computer) registered to you or associated in any way with you or people from your personal settings for network access. Relate the importance of information you want to send us with the security measures you are taking to protect yourself,” says the website.
It also provides a public PGP-key “as an additional layer of security” to encrypt messages submitted via the new virtual reception system.
When a user first visits the website intending to submit sensitive information related to Russian national security, they will receive a five-word code needed to decrypt messages from the intelligence service should it be interested in contacting the potential whistleblower.
Some news websites claim the message about the launch of the virtual reception system on the darknet appeared back on December 30, 2020.
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