“Got an old typewriter in your garage? Call the Kremlin, they need some,” the Associated Press announced Thursday. The Federal Protective Service, which guards President Putin and other top officials, is looking to spend over $14,000 to purchase twenty electric typewriters in an effort to protect top-secret documents from cyber threats.
Izvestia, a newspaper connected to the government, stated that the old-fashioned equipment is commonly used by the agency. Though the Federal Protective Service has not commented on the tender for new typewriters, it has been suggested that the antiquated technology is increasingly necessary to safeguard communications from spying foreign intelligence agencies and to prevent the exposure of classified information on Wikileaks.
Meanwhile, NSA leaker Edward Snowden sits in a Moscow airport.