The Russian government announced this week that they will be disconnecting from the global internet servers to defend themselves against cyberattacks. They will create their own internalized internet.
Russia has been hit with a barrage of financial weapons from the West, cutting off Russian banks and seizing the assets of Russia’s richest oligarchs.
But since the decision to shut down the global internet, some are speculating that the cyberattack could be coming against the United States.
The website Strange Sounds noted that, “Russia will completely disconnect from the global internet on March 11,” adding, “No later than March 11, all servers and domains must be transferred to the Russian zone (.ru). In addition, detailed data on the network infrastructure of the sites is being collected.”
When the announcement came, the World Economic Forum (WEF) removed Klaus Schwab’s ominous warning of a coming cyberattack from Russia that will send the whole world back to the 1800s.
Yantar, Russia’s Naval spy vessel, has left its base. Yantar is known to be used for spying on undersea fiber optic and internet cables.
In a separate report, Strange Sounds noted, “In Russian sources Yantar is described as a ‘Special Purpose Ship’ or ‘Oceanographic vessel’. In the West however it is regarded as a spy ship. Its forte is surveying undersea cables and possibly tapping, delousing or sabotaging them.”
Fox News reported that despite the advances that the U.S has made in its cyber defense, it’s nowhere near the level it needs to be, and there is no time to get it done.
“The good news is that certain key sectors that represent critical infrastructure, and support vital national functions have been enhancing their defenses for years. Think financial services and energy for example,” the piece notes.
“The bad news is that other equally important sectors are nowhere near as prepared. Think water – which is working to up its game but is nowhere near where it needs to be as the recent spate of ransomware has made clear,” the authors wrote.
“And this is the state of play among the big dogs. Yet the U.S. is an incredibly target-rich environment for any adversary because of the sprawling decentralized nature of both its public and private sector. Put differently: Small and medium size enterprises are not outside the crosshairs,” they added.
“So where should we go from here? We must better marshal our efforts so that the piecemeal and uneven progress that has been made to date becomes a more streamlined national effort that makes it far harder for any adversary to achieve its ends,” the column notes.
“Having a National Cyber Director (NCD) to act as coordinator and definitively take point on the all-important task of prioritizing our game plans and facilitating their execution in a way that ensures that they will be more than just the sum of their parts is a true step forward,” it adds.
Speculation is growing about the reason Yantar was launched from its base and it comes down to two possibilities – the Russians are either spying legitimately or they are planning to destroy the undersea fiber optic cables, cutting off internet to the West.
The internet that is completely controlled by Russia, would reduce the chance of cyber attacks being used on Russia in retaliation.
