In Russia, they are preparing to block calls in messengers for citizens

In Russia, they are preparing to limit calls in instant messengers, the fight against fraudsters is called as a justification. This was reported to Kommersant by two sources in telecom operators and one interlocutor in the telecom market.

Two options are being discussed — a complete blocking of voice calls in applications and a ban on calls from abroad. According to telecom operators, about 40% of instant messenger calls are made by scammers, while about 70% of them come from abroad. Telecom operators say that they cannot block calls in instant messengers without additional tools, and such a restriction is possible only at the Roskomnadzor level.

At the same time, as one of the interlocutors of the publication clarified, "voice calls in messengers can only be blocked at the Roskomnadzor level, this is not a question of operators." Currently, telecom operators can only see the fact that a subscriber is using a particular messenger, since the internal application traffic is encrypted, says Igor Bederov, head of the T.Hunter Investigation Department.

"The operator cannot see either the real phone numbers of those communicating, or the intensity and length of the sessions," he stressed.

Calls in instant messengers can be blocked by providers at the level of server commands, notes Konstantin Gorbunov, a leading expert on network threats at the Security Code company.

"Voice traffic, even encrypted in the messenger, has characteristic signs by which it can be detected and blocked," adds Rustem Khayretdinov, Deputy General Director of the Garda Group of Companies.

According to him, the blocking can be carried out using Roskomnadzor equipment installed on the networks of telecom operators.