From a Swedish article!
" On the night between July 4 and 5, a test was conducted: Russia disconnected itself from the global Internet. Russian citizens could no longer access sites like Google and Wikipedia. However, Russian web services could be reached.
At the same time, it is stated that some state companies and authorities had problems. According to the ISW think tank, the Russian railway company was probably disconnected and several telecom operators reported disturbances.
Tests to disconnect Russia from the internet have taken place before . In 2019, the country adopted a law on its own internet, âRunetâ. According to the Russian media site RBK, which has close ties to the state, the aim is to be able to protect the country against external cyber threats .
Defense against the United States
Mattias WÄhlén, an analyst with a Russian focus at the cyber security company Truesec and with a background in the FRA, confirms that the aim is hardly to prevent citizens from using the internet freely.
- Cutting off all digital traffic in and out of the country is a gross intervention that damages oneâs own economy. It is a crisis measure, he says.
New cyber attacks
At the same time, Russia has experimented with self-propagating cyber weapons, says Mattias WĂ„hlĂ©n. The âNotPetyaâ virus was used against Ukraine, but spread further around the world and eventually caused damage in Russia as well. Being able to disconnect from the internet can enable new attacks.
- It is both a way to stop cyber weapons from the West, but can also make it possible to unleash self-propagating cyber weapons on the internet without being hit yourself.
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