Russia planning to disconnect itself from the world’s internet

In order to save the country from cyberattacks, Russia is planning to disconnect the entire country from the rest of the world’s internet by a ‘kill switch’ and instead develop its own intranet.

Russian government is reportedly going to perform trial run of a measure to cut off the country from the global internet, as a cyber-defensive measure. Through this temporary test, Russia will check of the country can function ‘offline’ from foreign servers.

Russia introduced its Digital Economy National Program last year that would require the country’s internet providers to remain functional in the event the country was cut off from worldwide internet. Under this plan, Russian ISPs would redirect web traffic to routing points within the country and rely on its own copy of the Domain Name Systems (DNS), the directory of domains and addresses that underpins the global internet, explained Tech Crunch.

According to Science Alert, this move is an effort to insulate the Russian internet, known as Runet, from the rest of the web and ensure all traffic is carried on the country’s internal systems. Also, the Russian agency responsible for communications, Roskomnadzor, will gain new powers to control and censor prohibited media on the internet.

Using the Runet, the citizens would be kept connected, but only within the country. Runet will run during internet blackouts. Access to the outside world would be cut off and vice versa. However, citizens would still have access to email and such things, but controlled by the government.

The test could help Russia to protect its national security from any kind of cyber threat. Also, through this the country could wield a more closely held internet to control its own people and safeguard against foreign interests.

If successful, this move would permit Russia to effectively operate its own state-controlled internet and cut itself from the outside world. Though the actual test dates are not confirmed, it is expected to happen before April 1 of this year.