Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has ordered banks to install surveillance equipment that would allow authorities to monitor customer communications, the RBC news website has reported.
The systems, known as SORM (System for Operative Investigative Activities), enable security services to intercept and analyze messages, voice recordings, videos and other user-generated content. Banks have been instructed to implement the technology by 2027.
The FSB justified the measure by classifying banks as “information dissemination organizers,” or entities whose websites and mobile apps allow users to exchange messages.
This category already includes social networks, messengers and email services, according to the Roskomnadzor registry, which lists around 400 organizations.
Major financial institutions including Sberbank, T-Bank and Moscow Credit Bank have previously been added to the registry, according to the digital rights group Roskomsvoboda.
The order follows a July law that sharply increased penalties for companies that fail to install SORM equipment.
Under the legislation, individuals face fines of 15,000 to 30,000 rubles ($160-$320), while company officials can be fined up to 500,000 rubles. Firms themselves face turnover-based fines ranging from 0.001% to 0.003% of annual revenue, but not less than 1 million rubles.
The move also builds on Russia’s “Yarovaya law,” which requires information service providers to store metadata about user messages for one year and the contents of those communications for six months.
In August, the Digital Development Ministry drafted a separate order requiring satellite operators to give security services access to 5G network traffic by installing SORM equipment at ground stations. This would enable the FSB to monitor calls, internet activity and other data transmitted via satellite networks.
