Plans have been unveiled by the Russian government to develop an ‘independent internet’ that operates separately from the Domain Name System used globally.
The initiative was discussed during a recent meeting of the Russian Security Council in which the Kremlin seek to create an alternative to the DNS, claiming the move could protect Russia and a handful of other nations in the event of a large-scale cyberattack.
However, some suspect it could be a way for Russia to launch its own malicious operations, as revealed by DefenseOne. Reports unveiled by the Russian news site RT indicate that the independent internet would cover the ‘BRICS’ nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
RT also revealed that Russian President Vladimir Putin is targeting August 1, 2018 for its completion. The alternative DNS is designed to protect the BRICS nations ‘in the event of global internet malfunctions.’ It would also operate outside the control of international organizations.
Members of the council revealed that the plan comes as ‘the increased capabilities of western nations to conduct offensive operations in the informational space as well as the increased readiness to exercise these capabilities pose a serious threat to Russia’s security,’ according to RT.
The independent internet is also destined to give the BRICS national governments more control over their countries’ web use. Previous reports from Russian officials have insisted that the nation is not looking to detach from the global internet, but instead protect it from ‘possible external influence.’
‘Russia’s disconnection from the global internet is of course outof the question,’ Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said in 2014, according to RT. Peskov said that, ‘recently, a fair share of unpredictability is present in the actions of our partners in both the US and the EU, and we must be prepared for any turn of events.’
Peskov went ahead to emphasize that the nation has to think about how to ensure its national security. In light of the new plan, however, experts are not convinced that the move is entirely about national security concerns.
Dueling Internets.
More likely a State Controlled configuration to make User Monitoring and NEWS control easy?