Security

Putin Now Has Russia’s Internet Kill Switch To Stop U.S. Cyberattacks – Forbes


It has been in the works for years, and was signed into law in May. Now the final approvals have been put in place for Russian President Vladimir Putin to disconnect Russia from the world wide web if “required.” Politically, the rationale for this capability is to defend the state in the event of “threats to the stability, security and integrity of the functioning of the internet and the public communications network.” For which you can read a cyberattack emanating from the U.S., its allies or its proxies.

When Putin signed the Russian Internet (RuNet) into law, critics immediately honed in on the isolationist and censorship risk, quite apart from any cyber warfare threat, arguing that the country’s lawmakers had opened the door to a Chinese-style firewall disconnecting Russia from the outside world. Unsurprisingly, Russia and China have now become closer as the two countries battle U.S. influence over key technology areas. Even as RuNet secured its approval, stories circulated about Huawei, China’s leading tech player, becoming more ingrained in Russia, investing in R&D, supporting 5G deployments, becoming the largest device supplier.

As I reported in September, the Russian federal communications authority has been installing RuNet equipment across telcos and ISPs in readiness for its October deadline. It seems they’re maybe running a few weeks late, but on October 12, the Russian Federation mandated “the conduct of exercises to ensure the stable, safe and holistic functioning of the information and telecommunication network.” Essentially the ability to run an internal internet standalone, to operate from name servers inside the country, to internalise data storage, to prevent ISPs linking to international services. The first live tests will take place after November 1, and will be repeated annually. There is also the option to run additional tests if deemed necessary.

Tech analysts will now watch with interest as the machine kicks into action. There has always been speculation as to whether this will work in practice—deploying a Russian domain name system (DNS) to steer web traffic from international servers is no mean feat. Switching over then switching back, all within a speedy 30 minute window. But, in truth, it will be near impossible to know what happens on the ground. There will be analysis, social media chatter, but the official messaging will herald a total success.

Back in September, Alexander Zharov, head of the federal regulator Roskomnadzor, confirmed the installation of the RuNet equipment and plans for live testing. He referred to this as “combat mode,” and this can be taken fairly literally. The overt backdrop is the threat from foreign cyberattacks on power grids, transportation networks, command and control networks. Covertly, the combat involves domestic dissent, public protests, political campaigning.

On the cyber front, if none of the key networked endpoints face the outside world, the task becomes harder, albeit far from impossible. RuNet does slightly miss the point that an attack at that level is as likely to be triggered from inside the country, it will involve on-the-ground assets, it is unlikely to be a wholly online exercise. What it will do, though, is cut down the risk, the collateral damage, the ease by which assets can be picked off. On the domestic front, this brings everything in-house, the ease by which activity can be monitored and policed increases exponentially.

Zharov explained that “combat testing” will start with a technical check, ascertaining whether it “affects traffic, does not affect traffic, do all services work.” All the flagship agencies and ministries have a seat at the table when it comes to RuNet—FSB, Defense, FSO, Emergencies, FSTEC (military infosec). As regards which entities need to comply—as reported by D-Russia, it’s any organisation driving or controlling traffic. The Ministry of Communications theoretically takes the lead, but it doesn’t, not really.

And so Russia’s citizens now enter even more restrictive online territory. There are three factors at play here—state censorship, state fear of reliance on U.S. tech, and state defence against external cyberattacks. The context includes Russia losing patience with the likes of Apple, Google and Facebook, its natural inclination toward censorship, its tightening ties with China, where mandatory censorship is in place, where foreign services are banned, where there are domestic alternatives to almost everything the U.S. has to offer. Few doubt that Putin would embrace those levels of restrictions if it was technically and politically feasible.

Freedom On The Net has warned that Russian internet freedom has now declined “for the sixth year in a row, following government efforts to block the popular messaging app Telegram and numerous legislative proposals aimed at restricting online anonymity and increasing censorship.” There’s a theme here. And the issue for Russia’s citizens is that this long-proposed and very significant step in the wrong direction is about to become real.



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