Is it realistic to disconnect Russia from the Internet?
In 2014, they seriously started talking about the possibility of disconnecting Russia from the global network as one of the effective measures of sanctions against our country. The need to be prepared for such a scenario the day before was announced by Leonid Levin, head of the State Duma’s Committee on Information technology and communication. How realistic is the disconnection of an entire country from the Internet from the outside?
Some experts questioned the statements of the parliamentarian, pointing out that Levin himself is not an actor by education and in the field of IT. (Note that such unprofessionalism is the norm these days). Alexander Varsky, an expert in the field of IT technologies, believes that it is impossible to block the Internet in Russia, since this global network does not have a center and there are many ways to bypass blocking.
- he told the agency "Reedus".
Indeed, the failure of the Russian regulator in his attempts to block the Telegram messenger was very revealing. However, the problem is much more complicated than they are trying to imagine. The fact is that 10 root DNS servers are still in the jurisdiction of the United States of America, and the rest are in allied countries. Since 2016, root server management has been delegated to the American company ICANN.
The following statement by Alexander Varsky is somewhat puzzling:
The naivety of this judgment seems exceptional. Recall that after the September 11, 2001 attacks, the United States lives in a state of emergency, which is extended every year. The American authorities and special services acquired special powers, which gave rise to the emergence of some conspiracy theories. It is ridiculous to represent ICANN opposing the “people in black” who will ask for cooperation, even if we assume that ICANN was not created by these same people from the very beginning.
Moreover, Russia has been turned into a “source of cyberthreats” not only in the media space of the Western world, but also in the US cybersecurity doctrine, which states that Washington has the right to “preserve peace by force”. Thus, discussions about how technically complicated the procedure of “cutting” Russia from the global network are untenable. If the “evil Trump” poses such a task, it will be completed, and woe to those who incidentally fall into the hands of the Americans.
That is why in our country and is considered at the legislative level, the possibility of protecting the Runet, about which we told earlier. To this end, all the key infrastructure of the Russian segment of the Internet should be located on its own territory, and the transfer of traffic abroad should be minimized.
Some experts questioned the statements of the parliamentarian, pointing out that Levin himself is not an actor by education and in the field of IT. (Note that such unprofessionalism is the norm these days). Alexander Varsky, an expert in the field of IT technologies, believes that it is impossible to block the Internet in Russia, since this global network does not have a center and there are many ways to bypass blocking.
At the place of any blocked IP address, its owners will be able to "leave the national reservation" either using VPN technology, or through the "deep Internet", or in other ways that cannot be counted,
- he told the agency "Reedus".
Indeed, the failure of the Russian regulator in his attempts to block the Telegram messenger was very revealing. However, the problem is much more complicated than they are trying to imagine. The fact is that 10 root DNS servers are still in the jurisdiction of the United States of America, and the rest are in allied countries. Since 2016, root server management has been delegated to the American company ICANN.
The following statement by Alexander Varsky is somewhat puzzling:
There is ICANN, but this government is not controlled by any government, another organization, or, especially, private individuals. Therefore, it is hard to imagine that anyone could influence ICANN so that it erased all Russian DNS from servers.
The naivety of this judgment seems exceptional. Recall that after the September 11, 2001 attacks, the United States lives in a state of emergency, which is extended every year. The American authorities and special services acquired special powers, which gave rise to the emergence of some conspiracy theories. It is ridiculous to represent ICANN opposing the “people in black” who will ask for cooperation, even if we assume that ICANN was not created by these same people from the very beginning.
Moreover, Russia has been turned into a “source of cyberthreats” not only in the media space of the Western world, but also in the US cybersecurity doctrine, which states that Washington has the right to “preserve peace by force”. Thus, discussions about how technically complicated the procedure of “cutting” Russia from the global network are untenable. If the “evil Trump” poses such a task, it will be completed, and woe to those who incidentally fall into the hands of the Americans.
That is why in our country and is considered at the legislative level, the possibility of protecting the Runet, about which we told earlier. To this end, all the key infrastructure of the Russian segment of the Internet should be located on its own territory, and the transfer of traffic abroad should be minimized.
Information