> Russians returned to typewriters for all their top secret stuff
That's what they're telling people, I wonder how much truth there is to it. At the very least it provides a plausible cover story for when people ask why there aren't big leaks.
I guess you don't wonder that much why there is no leaks from large criminal syndicates and criminal structures in general. So the special agencies in Russia not just derived from USSR, but also built on corruption like any other government structure.
So like in usual organised crime most of people in charge are relatives or close friends and different spheres of influence are controlled by different groups of them. Most work there to make money on corporate raid or government contracts.
There is always wars for power between different groups inside those agencies which make people working there more careful about everything they doing since others always watching. So just like most of criminals they tend to not leave tons of documents in their email.
PS: And one more reason is obviously fact that no one want to end up drinking polonium tea or just get few bullets in back. Criminals don't have problem with killing traitors or those who failed to keep secrets.
Not sure why they'd need a cover story for not having big leaks. It's not like US intentionally leaks things either. Anybody is free to try and hack their systems just the same way people hack US ones.
While it's not some magical spy software during few last years there was plenty of leaks from inside the government and recent arrests was covered pretty well by western press:
Leaks include president Medvedev personal email and his secretary email, then Vladislav Surkov secretary emails and multiple entrepreneurs related to Kremlin. Though I doubt there was a lot of interest to them outside of Russia.
> Russians returned to typewriters for all their top secret stuff
That's what they're telling people, I wonder how much truth there is to it. At the very least it provides a plausible cover story for when people ask why there aren't big leaks.