Russia to disconnect from Internet

Russia is considering a plan to temporarily disconnect from the Internet. The exercise follows the aspiration of building an autonomous Internet infrastructure and to see how the country’s cyber defense would fare in case of retaliation from the West.

Background

Russia is known to launch cyber- attacks against targets across the world, including the US electronic voting systems in 2016. The UK National Cyber Security centre identified that the cyber campaign was allegedly carried out by the Russian military intelligence service, GRU. 

Hackers based in the country often leverage phishing attacks that can hide malware in email and more. The cyber criminals are targeting the phones and email accounts  with a messaging app scam that lets the attackers send fake messages. Russian and North Korean hackers attack key British websites – including the Ministry of Defence, Bank of England and nuclear bases – every day. 

In October 2017, NATO secretary general called out Russia for its “reckless pattern of behavior, including the use of force against its neighbors, attempted interference in election processes, and widespread disinformation campaigns.” The NATO allies are developing plans to counter Russia’s cyber-attack. 

Countries are creating firewalls that may soon splinter along geographical and commercial boundaries for cyber sovereignty and security. This is known as ‘splinternet’ - a fractured version of the global web.

Analysis

The Russian government plans to briefly disconnect the entire country from the internet. The brief shutdown is part of an ongoing effort to bolster Russia’s cybersecurity against foreign attacks that would cut it off from the rest of the world.

The experiment was set in motion by a proposed law called the Digital Economy National Program. It is aimed at helping the authorities to determine if data used by Russian users can stay within its borders. The law’s first draft requires internet providers to cut off the internet from the rest of the world so that they can determine if Russia’s internet network, Runet, can operate independently if it is ever disconnected through a cyberattack.

Russia has been building its own localized Domain Name System (DNS) for a few years now. An alternative localized DNS would allow Runet to function without access to servers located across the world. Like many nations, much of Russia’s internet access is still routed through so-called “exchange points” in the United States. Under the proposed rules, Russia’s telecoms firms would have to install “technical means” to re-route that traffic through national exchange points. Roskomnazor, Russia’s telecom watchdog, will monitor all traffic flowing through these points to make sure data is not being routed outside of Russia.

A new law will also direct Russian internet providers to direct all traffic through government-approved servers to further enforce content bans. The Russian government announced in 2017 that it would handle up to 95 percent of all internet traffic locally — that is, independent from the rest of the world — by 2020. The idea of cutting Russia off from the broader internet was first proposed in 2014, after the Security Council of Russia warned of the risks of relying on other countries to provide essential parts of the country's internet infrastructure.

 The world’s 13 root DNS servers are controlled by 12 organizations, none of which are based in Russia. Ten of those organizations, including three run directly by the U.S. government, are American. The other three are in Japan, the Netherlands and Sweden. The Kremlin perceives this arrangement as a threat to the country’s sovereignty. Also, the U.S. has offered its cyberwarfare capabilities to NATO, if the organization chose to counter Russia’s attacks.

The Russian government would pay for a new infrastructure that will give it more control over the internet within the country, allowing Russia to get closer to the kind of internet regulation that exists under the Great Firewall of China. 

Although none of Russia’s internet providers have said they disagree with the law, they’ve argued that its implementation will cause major disruptions to Russian internet traffic. Internet shutdowns are expensive affairs—a 2016 analysis found that even briefly disrupting a nation’s online activities can cost its economy billions of dollars.

Assessment

Our assessment is that due to the surge in nationalism in countries like Russia and China, they are cutting themselves off from the world wide web which is predominantly built on technology and infrastructure made by US companies and controlled by US tech giants. Every country aims to counter cyber espionage. It is likely that nationalized internet will enable to protect valuable intellectual property.