Modern systems based on artificial intelligence, machine learning, and neural systems in the hands of cruel and unscrupulous people can be very dangerous. Especially when they work for a dictatorship. Today we will talk about one such systems, which is going to be fully used in Russia by 2024. The same will be true for Belarus in its further integration with its eastern neighbor.
We will talk about the “Vepr” system. Its main task is to detect discontent in society at an early stage and predict how exactly it will spread.
In other words, the “Vepr” system will search for the slightest critical comments and predict whether they will lead to protests in the city, county, or the whole country. If there is a high risk, information will be immediately sent to the law enforcement agencies to extinguish discontent in its initial stages.
In other words, the work of this system resembles the plot of science fiction movies, in which punitive agencies, thanks to modern technology, find and punish so-called "criminals" before they even dare to commit a crime.
Only the artificial intelligence of the “Vepr” system is going to be used mainly for political purposes. Against those who express dissatisfaction with the current situation in Russia.
CyberPartisans obtained documents on the “Vepr” system while hacking into the network of the General Radio Frequency Centre (GRFC ), a subsidiary of Roskomnadzor. GRFC for short. It is this agency that has been tasked with implementing the project.
The information we have received, and our expert knowledge fully allow us to assess the high danger of the “Vepr” system to society, should it be implemented in accordance with Roskomnadzor's plans. Therefore, we believe it is appropriate to tell you about the operation of this system in full detail and publish documents on it on our channels. We also ask that you share this video and spread the word about the “Vepr” system to anyone who might be affected by its operation.❗
"Vepr" — responsible persons
Work on the "“Vepr”" system began when in 2021 the General Radio Frequency Centre, which was commissioned by Roskomnadzor to implement the project, signed a contract with the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology for 10 million rubles.
For this amount of money, scientists undertook to study whether it is realistic to create artificial intelligence, which is able not only to detect discontent with political figures, but also to develop scenarios for its dissemination. To predict exactly how criticism will grow on the global network and what consequences it will lead to.
Konstantin Vyacheslavovich Vorontsov became the project manager on the MIPT side.
At the end of 2021, he presented documentation for the development of “Vepr” and a set of techniques by which this system can work.
Thus, the MIPT staff gave a positive answer - it is realistic to develop such artificial intelligence. But they did not undertake to develop the system themselves. To find developers, GRFC held a separate competition, in which only one company took part - Neobit LLC, which specializes in the development of systems in the field of information security.
In 2007, it was founded by Dmitry Zegzhda together with his father.
As the director of the St. Petersburg Institute of Cyber Security and Information Security, Zegzhda began recruiting employees for Neobit mainly from among students and professors at the institute. The main customers and partners were government agencies: the FSB, the Ministry of Defence, FSTEC, the Foreign Intelligence Service, and the Interior Ministry.
In April 2021, the U.S. Treasury Department even put Neobit on the U.S. sanctions list for its involvement in FSB cyber operations.
The company currently employs about 150 information security specialists.
You can see a list of Neobit employees who participated in the development of ““Vepr”” below:
The work on the system was conditionally divided into three stages. The first of them ended on January 31, 2023. According to the plan, 60 million rubles had been spent on the creation of the system by that time. The costs of the next stages of development and equipment were estimated at approximately 634 million rubles.
If Neobit fails with the development,several other companies are being considered by GRFC to back it up. Among them is "Cribrum" JSC, however its specialists have estimated terms of "“Vepr”" development in 50-100 years and doubted, in general, whether such a system could be implemented according to the existing terms of reference.
In addition, among such "back-up" organizations was RTI JSC, which is already developing a system similar to the "Vepr" for the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
How does "Vepr" work?
Now we will tell you in more detail how exactly the "“Vepr”" works. The data for analysis comes from another system called “Mir”. It has been in use since October 2022. The main task of the “Mir” is to collect information from the entire Russian-language Internet. Initially, it was set up to monitor open resources.
But with the help of a farm of bots that look and communicate like people, Roskomnadzor intends to eventually penetrate closed communities as well. We have already written about this before.
Now, the “Mir” system collects any textual information, but in the future, it also plans to monitor video and graphics. Then all materials will then be sent to the "“Vepr”" system for analysis. Its artificial intelligence finds texts with discontent, predicts how it is likely to escalate, and identifies the source - the first publication that started the threat.
You can see a list of the technologies that were used to create the system below.
Among the mass of material that enters the system, ““Vepr”” monitors the number of repeat publications, as well as other parameters of information distribution. If the increase in the number and rate of publications exceeds the threshold, ““Vepr”” identifies the situation as a probable threat and reports it to the Roskomnadzor analyst. The censorship officer, in turn, decides, for example, to block and delete content at the early stages of discussion, as well as to pass information on disgruntled commenters "to the authorized bodies".
Danger Of the "Vepr" System
The specialists who did the risk analysis obviously underestimated the capabilities of hacktivist groups such as CyberPartisans.
But we, in turn, take the threat of implementing the "“Vepr”" system seriously. If it is activated as planned, it will lead to a strengthening of the dictatorship and total control of society with little chance of any protest in the country. ❗ That is why we will be sure to release important documents that are related to its operation.
Stay tuned to CyberPartisan's Telegram channels for updates.