‘IBM, Cisco and SAP give Russian government access to source code software’

IBM, Cisco and SAP would have given the Russian government access to the confidential source code of their software, Reuters news agency reported. The Russian government also asked Symantec to do so, but the company refused.

The Russian government checks the software for backdoors of other governments in so-called ‘clean rooms’, laboratories where the inspectors cannot copy or change the software, Reuters reports. This is to prevent the Russian government from benefiting later from access to the source code. The Russian government requests that access as a condition for being able to sell the software on the Russian market.

Symantec refused access because the laboratory used has business relationships with the Russian military and could therefore not operate independently. Symantec is also afraid that the auditors will find vulnerabilities during the audit and do not report them, but use them in cyber attacks.

IBM, Sap and Cisco would give in, because the Russian market is large and can therefore generate a lot of turnover, Reuters claims. The companies have not confirmed that. The Chinese government would ask for the same kind of access from many companies. It is not the first time that the possible Russian access to the source code of closed software has been in the news. For example, Russia previously wanted access to the source code of Apple software and Microsoft Office, among others.

Moreover, Russia is increasingly switching to alternatives to American software. For example, it stops Android in favor of the Finnish Sailfish OS and the government dumps Outlook for a Russian mail client.

Echelon complex in Moscow, where access takes place