Russia to possibly be removed from The Internet
Tweet
It has been reported that Russia has run tests to find out if it would be able to remove the entire country from the grips of the World Wide Web in order to control the stream of information to and from foreign countries. This is according to a top industry official.
Experts relayed the message on to media reporters that the tests were conducted in order to prepare for an information blackout that may be caused by a potential domestic political crisis. The attempt to remove from the internet has invoked fears about stripping Internet freedom from the country’s citizens.
The general director of Russian Internet provider Er Telecom, Andre Semerikov, told media that it was an order dispensed by the ministry of communications and Russia’s national Internet regulator, Roskomnadzor, to restrict traffic to foreigm communication channels by using DPI, a traffic control system.
The goal was to see if Russia’s Internet could continue to function even though it was cut off from the global Internet.
Russian officials denied any experiment took place. A spokesman for Roskomnadzor told media “there was not such experiment.”
However, media reported that a similar test to cut Russia from the World Wide Web was conducted last July. The FSB, Russia’s defense ministry and interior ministry collaborated with the country’s telephone operator to see if a national intranet made up of certain Russian domain names could survive if cut off from other parts of the Web.
Russian president Vladimir Putin reportedly ordered the test to assess the country’s Internet capabilities should Western sanctions cut off the country from the Internet. The test resulted in a move to build a backup infrastructure to ensure the Internet could continue to operate.
Andrei Soldatov, an expert in Russian security services, told the media the tests are a “pretext” and said the government is getting ready for the possibility of shutting down the flow of information from the outside world.
A C Braby (Pty) Ltd. and its associates disclaim all liability for any loss, damage, injury or expense however caused, arising from the use of or reliance upon, in any manner, the information provided through this service and does not warrant the truth, accuracy or completeness of the information provided.