PRESS: Russian operators offer big data analytics for natl security

MOSCOW, Jul 4 (PRIME) -- Russian operators proposed to use big data analytics in the interests of national security and a fight against terrorism at a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich in mid-June, business daily Vedomosti reported Monday, referring to several sources.

A spokesperson for one of the operators said big data could help to reveal potential terrorists through an analysis of activities in the cyberspace. Other sources said Dvorkovich liked the operators’ idea.

The meeting with the deputy prime minister took place shortly ahead of the approval by the parliament of a pack of antiterrorist amendments, including a clause obliging communications operators and Internet companies to store content of users’ correspondence and talks up to six months. To become law, the bill, which was severely criticized by market participants and experts, is to be signed by President Vladimir Putin.

Operators hope big data analytics could become a more effective alternative to the bill, several people said. A government source said discussions of big data had nothing to do with the bill, and nobody mentioned an intention to take the idea into account when preparing legal documents.

Anna Serebryanikova, director for legal issues at mobile operator MegaFon, said earlier that law enforcement entities in some countries use big data, for example in the U.K., software looks for correlations between police databases and information from open sources. Europe’s ePolice reveals cybercrime trends, human and drugs trafficking.

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