A Russian security researcher has found that hardware equipment meant to be used by Russian authorities to intercept internet traffic had been leaving data exposed on the internet.
The leaky equipment were SORM devices. These are hardware wiretaps that all Russian internet service providers and mobile telecoms must install in their data centers to comply with local legislation.
When translated from Russian, SORM stands for System for Operative Investigative Activities. SORM devices are hardware equipment that support the SORM technical specification passed in the mid-90s in Russia, and which allows Russian law enforcement agencies to connect to devices, set up filtering and logging rules, and then retrieve logged data at later points.
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Source: ZDNet