President Putin has ordered Russia to unplug itself from the internet. The nation accused of planning to use submarines to cut vital international cables wants to make sure its own economy can survive ‘offline’.
Russian media reports the civil-defence exercise is expected to take place at an unspecified time before April 1. It’s all about testing measures put in place in the event of war — when an ‘aggressor’ could cut its digital umbilical cords.
According to RosBiznesKonsalting, Moscow is drafting a law stating that all internal internet service providers (ISPs) must continue to remain functional even if isolated from the rest of the world.
“According to the proposals, operators and internet providers will have to ‘ensure the installation’ in their networks of technical means to counter threats,” RBK reports.
The test ‘decoupling’ of the world wide web is to determine what technical and legal challenges remain in order to complete legislation currently before the Kremlin and ensure its ISPs must comply.
The disconnection will be overseen by the Kremlin’s Information Security Working Group, which includes the co-founder of the controversial Russian cybersecurity firm Kasperksy Lab.