Russia is preparing for a possible disconnection from the global Internet with the help of exercises in the field of cyber security in the scenario of a defense initiative by Moscow or a measure imposed from the outside, reports Kommersant, citing News.ro.

According to the journalists of the largest Russian financial daily Kommersant, the isolation of the Russian Internet from the rest of the world was considered by the Kremlin in March, shortly after the start of the “special military operation” in Ukraine.

The Russian news site RBC wrote in the summer of last year that the Russian authorities had successfully tested a disconnection from the global Internet network.

Several cybersecurity exercises involving banks, telecom operators and some of the biggest internet companies have taken place this year to test the ability of Russia’s network to function autonomously.

According to Kommersant, these exercises are justified by the geopolitical situation. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmytro Chernyshenko told the newspaper that the number of cyber attacks in 2022 increased by 80%.

“Last year, the main target was the financial sector, and this year, the public sector,” he claims.

Russia will redirect its Internet traffic to Asia

Against these threats, the Russian operator Rostelecom considered a plan to shut down the Internet in the spring.

“If Russia is cut off from European exchange points, it will redirect its Internet traffic to Asia,” said an expert quoted by the daily.

The project of a “sovereign” Internet, which Russian President Vladimir Putin has mentioned several times, has been overshadowed in recent months by restrictions on access to certain sites such as Twitter and Instagram.

Russia’s digital isolation, to the extent that it can be achieved, would increase state control over personal data and personal freedoms and fuel the fears of some experts and human rights activists.

In Russia, several Internet traffic access providers, such as LINX, have already disconnected their Rostelecom or Megafon services.

Likewise, “the American cloud provider Clouflare refused to cooperate with the Russian Federation, but the State Department (USA) urged not to disconnect Russia from the Internet,” Kommersant writes.

Disconnection from the worldwide Internet is supported by the special services of Moscow

Large state actors, especially intelligence agencies, prefer the ability to obtain information to the absence of data.

Since March, the Russian authorities have taken measures to protect state websites. All government websites were urged to change their Russian domain names, abandon foreign hosting and strengthen password policies.

But six months later, these restrictions were ignored by regional government sites, which continue to use codes downloaded from abroad, Kommersant reports.

The newspaper explains this by the fact that the fines are small, about 5,000 rubles (83 euros). According to some experts, the disconnection of the Russian segment of the Internet from the World Wide Web will have consequences for the connection of the entire world network.

“Traffic from Kazakhstan and some parts of some Asian countries passes through the Russian Federation,” another expert, Ivan Beghtin, explained to Kommersant.

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