Russia Tests Way to Disconnect from Worldwide Internet
2021-07-26
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1Russia disconnected from the worldwide internet during tests in June and July, a Russian news service, RBC, reported on Thursday.
2The information for the report came from documents from a Russian internet security working group.
3Russia passed a law in late 2019 that aims to protect the Russian part of the internet from outside threats.
4The "sovereign internet" law was in answer to what Russia called the "aggressive nature" of the United States' national cyber security policies.
5The law increased Moscow's control over connections within Russia to the worldwide network and caused concern among free speech activists.
6They feared the move would strengthen government power over the country's cyberspace, which is called "Runet" because the country's internet addresses end in "ru."
7Held from June 15 to July 15, the tests involved all four of Russia's major telecoms companies.
8RBC reported that someone in the working group said early results showed they were successful and added, "The purpose of the tests is to determine the ability of the Runet to work in case of external distortions, blocks and other threats."
9RBC also said the capability of physically disconnecting the Russian part of the internet was tested.
10It was not immediately clear how long the disconnection lasted or whether there were any noticeable breaks in internet traffic.
11The law says that tests should be carried out every year, but RBC said operations were called off in 2020 due to problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
12The central government of Russia was aware of the tests, spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
13He said they were timely and that Russia had to be ready for anything.
14The legislation also seeks to pass Russian web traffic and data through state-controlled points.
15It also called for a national Domain Name System to allow the internet to continue working even if Russia is cut off.
16A domain name system, or DNS, is like a phone book organizing the internet locations of each website.
17In June 2019, President Vladimir Putin said the government had to be certain that the Runet could work in a safe and steady way.
18The goal is to guard against problems caused if networks outside of Russia's control in other countries were turned off or infected with computer viruses.
19State communications agency Roskomnadzor said the tests aim to improve the security of Russia's internet systems and keep them whole.
20It said Roskomnadzor had used the equipment installed for the test to slow down the speed of social network Twitter since March.
21That action came after Twitter refused to remove content Moscow says is illegal.
22I'm Jill Robbins.
1Russia disconnected from the worldwide internet during tests in June and July, a Russian news service, RBC, reported on Thursday. The information for the report came from documents from a Russian internet security working group. 2Russia passed a law in late 2019 that aims to protect the Russian part of the internet from outside threats. The "sovereign internet" law was in answer to what Russia called the "aggressive nature" of the United States' national cyber security policies. The law increased Moscow's control over connections within Russia to the worldwide network and caused concern among free speech activists. They feared the move would strengthen government power over the country's cyberspace, which is called "Runet" because the country's internet addresses end in "ru." 3Four major companies tested 4Held from June 15 to July 15, the tests involved all four of Russia's major telecoms companies. RBC reported that someone in the working group said early results showed they were successful and added, "The purpose of the tests is to determine the ability of the Runet to work in case of external distortions, blocks and other threats." 5RBC also said the capability of physically disconnecting the Russian part of the internet was tested. It was not immediately clear how long the disconnection lasted or whether there were any noticeable breaks in internet traffic. The law says that tests should be carried out every year, but RBC said operations were called off in 2020 due to problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. 6'Ready for anything' 7The central government of Russia was aware of the tests, spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. He said they were timely and that Russia had to be ready for anything. 8The legislation also seeks to pass Russian web traffic and data through state-controlled points. It also called for a national Domain Name System to allow the internet to continue working even if Russia is cut off. A domain name system, or DNS, is like a phone book organizing the internet locations of each website. 9In June 2019, President Vladimir Putin said the government had to be certain that the Runet could work in a safe and steady way. The goal is to guard against problems caused if networks outside of Russia's control in other countries were turned off or infected with computer viruses. 10State communications agency Roskomnadzor said the tests aim to improve the security of Russia's internet systems and keep them whole. It said Roskomnadzor had used the equipment installed for the test to slow down the speed of social network Twitter since March. That action came after Twitter refused to remove content Moscow says is illegal. 11I'm Jill Robbins. 12Alexander Marrow and Dmitry Antonov reported on this story for Reuters. Jill Robbins adapted it for Learning English. Susan Shand was the editor. 13__________________________________________________ 14Words in This Story 15sovereign - adj. having independent authority and the right to govern itself 16cyber - adj. dealing with computer software and networks 17determine - v. to learn or find out (something) by getting information 18distort - v. to change (something) so that it is no longer true or accurate 19What do you think of Russia disconnecting itself from the internet? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.