Putin's Adviser Says Russia Must Be Ready To Disconnect Itself From The Global Internet

from the death-of-"death-of-geography" dept

Thu, Jan 5th 2017 3:33am — Glyn Moody

Back in November, we wrote about Russia's surprising move to enforce an older data localization law that requires all Internet companies to store the personal data of Russian citizens on Russian soil. At the time, that seemed to be just another example of Vladimir Putin's desire to keep a close eye on everything that was happening in Russia. But a comment from his Internet adviser, German Klimenko, hints that there could be another motive: to make it easier for Russia to cut itself off from the global Internet during a crisis, as The Washington Post reports:

Klimenko pointed out that Western powers had cut Crimea off from Google and Microsoft services after the peninsula was annexed from Ukraine by Russia (the companies were complying with U.S. sanctions on Crimea imposed after Russia's takeover). He suggested that showed why it was necessary for the Russian Internet to work on its own.

"There is a high probability of 'tectonic shifts' in our relations with the West," said Klimenko. "Therefore, our task is to adjust the Russian segment of the Internet to protect themselves from such scenarios." He added that "critical infrastructure" should be on Russian territory, "so no one could turn it off."

Klimenko's comments were made before the US announced its response to claims of Russian interference in the presidential election process. His analysis of "tectonic shifts" in US-Russia relations now looks rather prescient, although US threats to hack back made it a relatively easy prediction. And even though his call for Russia to ensure its critical infrastructure cannot be "turned off" by anyone -- in particular by the US -- may be grandstanding to a certain extent, it is not infeasible.

The Chinese have consciously made their own segment of the Internet quite independent, with strict controls on how data enters or leaves the country. Techdirt reported earlier that Russia was increasingly looking to China for both inspiration and technological assistance; maybe Klimenko's comments are another sign of an alignment between the two countries in the digital realm.

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Filed Under: censorship, fragmentation, great wall, internet, localization, russia

16 Comments

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Ninja (profile), 5 Jan 2017 @ 5:05am

You don't need to pull the plug on the entire country if crisis emerge. You just have to make it easy to pull the plug on said critical systems if they are under attack and at risk of being breached. No, no, this is just another lame excuse for a totalitarian state disguised as a democracy. I'm talking about Russia btw.
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Michael, 5 Jan 2017 @ 5:55am

Re:
They are doing the opposite. They have recently seen western internet companies stop serving a country as compliance with US sanctions. It looks, to me, like they are trying to ensure that they are not relying on systems and companies that are outside of their control and can be turned off by another country.

This makes a lot of sense. If a sizable portion of their economy was dependent on Google services and the US ordered Google to stop serving Russia (and they complied), it could have devastating economic impact.
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Sampson (profile), 5 Jan 2017 @ 6:22am

We will help
I think it is about time we helped the Russians out and disconnect them from this side. Will save us all a great deal of trouble.
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Jan 2017 @ 6:41am

Re: We will help
I am by no means a globalist supporter and tend to be isolationist in my idea of what a good national government would be like, but it is pretty stupid to support keeping the people of earth separate from each other on the internet.

The internet makes a great place to share ideas and to help understand other cultures better. I know that there are a plenty of whack job liberals and conservatives that want to be the BIG voice on the internet and for all others to be silenced but that only invites just exactly what you "think" you are going to be getting away from.
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Jan 2017 @ 7:08am

Re: Re: We will help
> The internet makes a great place to share ideas...

Which is why governments have a problem with it.
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limbodog (profile), 5 Jan 2017 @ 7:14am

Because Russia isolating itself from the rest of the world behind a proverbial curtain, let's call it an "iron curtain", is a great idea.
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Michael, 5 Jan 2017 @ 7:25am

Re: Re: We will help
When trying to control someone, it is important to first isolate them from people that can tell them they are being controlled.
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Jan 2017 @ 8:19am

In Communist Russia
the internet disconnects you

I had to...I'll see myself out now.
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Wyrm (profile), 5 Jan 2017 @ 9:10am

I don't agree with their idea, but I can't say I don't understand either. They've seen what US - both as a government and as private companies - does with the internet (and in real life). Surveillance, hacking, whole-country ban (even if that's sometimes justified).
Not saying that Russia is all clean either, but that helps understand why the historical nemesis of US might want to take protective measures against digital actions from a country that has already proven that "freedom" and "human rights" are things it likes to advocate for others but is applying very selectively to itself.
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Jan 2017 @ 10:17am

But if Russia disconnects from the global internet this will have two MAJOR repercussions.

1. the market for illegal russian brides will collapse

2. Where will putin get his XXX rated gay porn from?
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Ed Hurst, 5 Jan 2017 @ 11:03am

Commoditizing
Commoditizing includes the idea that everyone in the market is doing pretty much the same thing, with distinctions relegated to very minor differences. The majority of buyers no longer give much thought to which brand they buy. With computer technology, this is a critical issue in understanding the market.

I can recall when computer hardware companies were hoping to commoditize operating systems, but gave up when Microsoft succeeded in commoditizing hardware. Some of you may be aware that Russia is working to do both, pushing out their own brand of Linux (for government use) and their own hardware, down to the CPU and everything. It doesn't have to be competitive globally; it only has to work for them. They've been at this for awhile, and it's simply a reflection of the times. China has done this to some degree already.

Like it or not, a substantial portion of this world's population is currently turning away from globalism to nationalism. While the nature of the Internet remains agnostic about borders, people and corporations are still subject to that rising nationalism and maybe some imperialism. The Internet cannot be commoditized; it's the only one of its kind right now. While China's government is still juggling and experimenting with how much they can actually control, they are still connected to the same Internet. We still get spam and malware from servers on Chinese soil.

The only way for one nation/country to keep their place on the Net is to reduce their dependency on corporate vendors with a globalist/imperialist bent. Russia is simply trying to reduce dependency on other nations while keeping the option of staying connected.
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Jan 2017 @ 3:24pm

Re:
"...I'm talking about Russia btw."

it saddens me that we have to actually point that out these days...
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Anonymous Coward, 6 Jan 2017 @ 6:45am

Why?

Are they anticipating reprisals?
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DakotaKid, 6 Jan 2017 @ 2:52pm

Of course a state actor that does not value free and open speech wants full control over what its citizens(subjects?)say. Why is anybody surprised?
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moochi, 7 Jan 2017 @ 5:23am

not news
This isn't news. If there is a piece of legislation that has been passed or is about to be passed, that is one thing, but this isn't really anything at all. Some random suggestion by some underling doesn't mean anything. I'm sure Putin probably has 1000s of advisers that each have 1000s of suggestions. It seems like you could pick out any narrative you want from this treasure trove.
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Jan 2017 @ 11:29am

Well, that's what every other country would like to do.
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