It is not 'Throwback Thursday,' but after reading a report from Russia, I thought that maybe I was mistaken. In an apparent bid to prevent leakage of sensitive information from computer hardware, Russian state service in charge of safeguarding Kremlin communications is looking to purchase an array of old-fashioned typewriters.
The throwback to the paper-strewn days of Soviet bureaucracy has reportedly been prompted by the publication of secret documents by anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks and the revelations leaked by former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.
The Federal Guard Service, which is also in charge of protecting President Vladimir Putin, is looking to spend just over 486,000 rubles (US$ 14,800) to buy a number of electric typewriters, according to the site of state procurement agency, zakupki.gov.ru.
"This purchase has been planned for more than a year now," a source at the service, known by its Russian acronym FSO, told AFP on 11 July 2013.
The notice on the site was posted last week. A spokeswoman for the service declined comment.
Pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia said the state service was looking to purchase 20 typerwriters because using computers to prepare top-secret documents may no longer be safe.
"After scandals with the distribution of secret documents by WikiLeaks, the exposes by Edward Snowden, reports about Dmitry Medvedev being listened in on during his visit to the G20 summit in London, it has been decided to expand the practice of creating paper documents," the newspaper quoted a FSO source as saying.
Unlike printers, every typewriter has its own individual pattern of type so it is possible to link every document to a machine used to type it, Izvestia said.
The throwback to the paper-strewn days of Soviet bureaucracy has reportedly been prompted by the publication of secret documents by anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks and the revelations leaked by former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.
The Federal Guard Service, which is also in charge of protecting President Vladimir Putin, is looking to spend just over 486,000 rubles (US$ 14,800) to buy a number of electric typewriters, according to the site of state procurement agency, zakupki.gov.ru.
"This purchase has been planned for more than a year now," a source at the service, known by its Russian acronym FSO, told AFP on 11 July 2013.
The notice on the site was posted last week. A spokeswoman for the service declined comment.
Pro-Kremlin newspaper Izvestia said the state service was looking to purchase 20 typerwriters because using computers to prepare top-secret documents may no longer be safe.
"After scandals with the distribution of secret documents by WikiLeaks, the exposes by Edward Snowden, reports about Dmitry Medvedev being listened in on during his visit to the G20 summit in London, it has been decided to expand the practice of creating paper documents," the newspaper quoted a FSO source as saying.
Unlike printers, every typewriter has its own individual pattern of type so it is possible to link every document to a machine used to type it, Izvestia said.
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