On September 25, 1991, Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev dismantled the KGB into several independent departments.

On March 11, 2003 the agency was reorganized into the Service of Special Communications and Information (Spetssvyaz, Spetssviaz) (Russian: Служба специальной связи и информации) of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB RF).

In 1995 by decree of President Boris Yeltsin all cryptographic systems except those licensed by FAPSI were forbidden in the Russian Federation.

There are widespread rumors that all systems licensed by FAPSI have backdoors allowing the agency to freely access the encrypted information.

Since 1998 they require that all Internet providers in Russia install their hardware named SORM (СОРМ – Система Оперативно-Розыскных Мероприятий, System of Operative Investigative Actions) that allows filtering and remote control of internet traffic from FAPSI headquarters.