The Department of Information Technology of Moscow (DIT) has been developing throughout the past 5 years. During this period DIT have digitalized over 166 state services, more than any other region in Russia. Moreover, 178 portals have been established, including mos.ru the official website for the Mayor and Government of Moscow.
Working with the DIT, innovators have produced a unified city identifier known as Mos.ID, granting businesses and citizens access to the unified mos.ru platform.
Denis Zhikharev, head of projects at DIT said, “The new system will simplify life in the digital space, help to counter fraud and become a single point of entry into hundreds of internet services for citizens. In other words, it will do away with the need to memorize numerous passwords for various accounts.”
This new entry method obtains constantly updated information by cross referencing data provided during registration at government data bases, while user identities are verified in a multifunctional centre or through binding with confirmed state accounts containing large amounts of verified details.
"Dual authentication is used to prevent data falsification,” Zhikharev explained. “The user’s identity is verified in government data bases and the account itself is confirmed through several social networks. Each person can have only one authentic account. For safety, we also use an anti-hammering system, based on automatic recognition of anomalous user behaviour on the authorization page.”
Zhikharev also noted that “If the system detects strange behaviour by a user on the authorisation page - for example, if 10 attempts are made in 10 seconds using the same login but different passwords – it activates the protection function and it will then only be possible to re-use the login and password after a random amount of time, which is calculated on the side of the authentication system. The password selector script is therefore defeated and stops working. It is easier for the author of the password selection script to give up than to work out the algorithm of the authorization protection system."
The procedure results in users being restricted to only one authentic account reducing clutter and the possibility of spam accounts. Given the users consent, verification of this data will allow the provision of online services without the necessity of any additional identification.
This system has been tried and tested by the Federal Service for Technical and Export Control in order to confirm the safety of the Personal Data Information System that houses the data.
The Mos.ID gains individuals and businesses access to mos.ru. The main aim of mos.ru is to create a unified web space for the city, providing Muscovites with a single resource where they can find all the city platforms and online services they need.