St. Petersburg IVC

St. Petersburg Information and Computing Center (IVC) is a structural unit of the Main Computing Center (GVC RZD), a branch of Russian Railways. The center was founded in 1967. As a data processing center, it provides IT services to the Russian Railways Holding Company, subsidiaries and affiliates of Russian Railways and other information service consumers.

The main objective of the IVC is to meet the needs of Russian Railways, partners and third-party organizations in IT services.

The objectives of SPB IVC include: formation and implementation of a strategy for the development of automated management systems of Russian Railways; formation of a informatization program taking into account the development of automated management systems of Russian Railways and state targeted programs in the field of informatization, ensuring the integration of created information systems with national and international information exchange systems.

History

2024: Officer detained in train traffic case

In September 2024, a former employee of the Russian Railways Information and Computing Center was detained in St. Petersburg on charges of selling train traffic data. According to the investigation, the ex-specialist for four years, together with colleagues, transmitted strategic information on train schedules and routes, including abroad.

According to Irina Volk, a representative of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, the suspects unauthorized connected to the terminal of the information and computing center of Russian Railways in St. Petersburg, through which real-time data on the movement of freight trains were received. Among the detainees are former and current employees of this center, who, according to investigators, organized a criminal group to sell this data.

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According to Kommersant, the defendants created a company in 2020 whose activities were officially related to the use of databases and information resources. Through this company, contracts were concluded for the provision of data on the movement of trains to customers who paid for access from ₽500 thousand to ₽1 million per month. Among the customers were several dozen companies, including foreign ones. The income of the criminal group for the entire period of its existence amounted to about ₽100 million.

The FSB and the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation conducted searches at the place of work and residence of the suspects, during which computer equipment, storage media and other evidence were seized. Among the detainees are Alexander Glek, Elena Kozhevina and Yuri Baerov. Eight suspects were released on an obligation to appear, four remain in custody. Three have already been charged, and one of them was placed in a pre-trial detention center. The investigating authorities continue to work in the case of unlawful access to computer information (part 4 of article 272 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).^[1]

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