Moscow has refuted media reports that suggest Russia is attempting to disconnect from the global internet, although the country had earlier successfully tested the idea, and a major infrastructure provider has now cut off services as part of international sanctions.
The ministry has sent a letter to government agencies, laying down a set of recommendations on cyber hygiene. These recommendations are supposed to help organize government work more effectively, thereby protecting resources from malicious traffic, ensuring control over domain names, and maintaining the operation of various services.
Russia has been working toward making its own version of the internet, completely independent from foreign control. In 2018, Moscow implemented the Digital Economy National Program that sought to protect the country’s digital infrastructure in a scenario where Russia was cut off from the global internet.
In 2019, Russia adopted the Sovereign Internet law, which gave the ruling administration powers to partition the country’s online access from the rest of the world, including the national fork of the DNS. Kremlin had deemed the move as countering the “aggressive nature” of America’s national cyber security strategy.
Free speech activists lambasted the policy as a move to increase government oversight over Russian cyberspace. Professor Alan Woodward, a computer scientist at the University of Surrey, had called the Russian alternative as “another step” in the increasing fragmentation of the world wide web.
In June and July last year, Russia conducted a series of tests, which saw the participation of major domestic telecom firms, where the country successfully disconnected itself from the internet.
Meanwhile, Cogent Communications, an internet backbone provider, cut off its services in Russia as a protest against Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Backbone providers are responsible for providing high-speed data transmission lines and related infrastructure. Though the move will not fully disconnect Russians from the world, it will potentially result in slower connectivity.
“Cutting Russians off from internet access cuts them off from sources of independent news and the ability to organize anti-war protests. Don’t do Putin’s dirty work for him,” Eva said.