==Russia’s Web Blackout Threat
Steaming full ahead like a Soviet locomotive, Russia has promised by 2020, 95% of its internet traffic will be delivered by domestic servers. Abroad, Putin’s rhetoric on the subject borders on delusion and a deep-seated requirement to secure the state from outside cybercrime
Sources at Rosbizneskansalting (RBK) reported earlier in the year that the Russian government announced it intended to disconnect the country from Runet, the country’s internal internet, sometime before April.
This willingness for isolation in the face of the ongoing menace of cybercrime, misinformation and fake news shows that Putin and his Kremlin buddies feel confident that sooner, rather than later, Russia will manage to be a self-sufficient entity in the information superhighway.
The disconnection is seen as a temporary measure, which will lead to – if successful – a permanent state of affairs. Both private and state telecoms within the country are reported to be involved in the controlled shutdown, with Natalya Kaspersky — Kaspersky Lab antivirus co-founder — at the head of the group. With paranoia setting in the corridors of the Kremlin — much like those in the White House and Downing Street— Russia’s chief lawmakers are worried the West’s accusations of Moscow’s hacking of them could lead very quickly to odious cyber countermeasures by Washington and London. The move to disconnect the Web is seen by some to speed up Russia’s isolation.
If the bill is successful, it would then necessitate the telecom companies to rechannel internet traffic via routing points under the jurisdiction of the Kremlin. Such a move would see the circulation of information abroad slowed down or completely halted at the Russian state’s whim.
Costly Experiment
The cost of such actions, many experts have said, would be prohibitively expensive and impractical and could, with all likelihood, lead to a considerable disturbance in the operation of the internet within the country
The issue of censorship and what it may steer towards with the power that Aleksandr Zharov, head of the Roskomnadzor — the federal executive body responsible for state censorship — has and how it will be used if the bill goes through is an interesting one.
Roskomnadzor has recently handed over lists of sites it wants Google to block in the country. Up to this point, however, it is not know how many of these sites have exactly been blocked, but some numbers talked about are over 75%.
One downside of these moves is the strain it will have on the Kremlin coffers. To assist Roskomnadzor carry out the sovereign internet legislation will rely heavily on funds from the country’s budget. Against this, however, is the state audit chamber, which believes the action will see an inevitable rise in services and consumer goods in stores, not to mention the huge amount of money required to bring in more staff to Roskomnadzor to execute the job and pay for the technology needed.
Again, hitting the average man on the street.
But maybe this is what Russia needs to tighten up its security measures and expel any thoughts the West has of interfering in the country through cyber means.
The move is seen as mirroring the policies of Russia’s giant neighbour, China, and its great firewall, which blocks major sites like YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.
However, it must work both ways,In Russia, typing in ‘American government hacking of Russia’ or ‘British cyberattacks of Kremlin’, for example, bring zero results on Google. It is difficult to find a search result on American cyberattacks on Russia.
Here is an example of one of the Russian Google searches for ‘American government hacking of Russia’:
Russia: We did not hack the US Democrats. But if we did, we’re immune from prosecution… lmaoHackers are lethal weapons, as in diplomatic… oh forget it
hackernoon.com
