(Source: http://cont.ws/post/52563)

The authorities are considering the possibility of disconnecting the country from the Internet in case of emergency.

The Russian authorities are planning to make several decisions for strengthening the sovereignty of the Russian segment of the Web. These measures may include the introduction of a special procedure for Internet administration with an opportunity to disconnect it in case of emergency.

This was reported by “Vedomosti” with reference to the sources in Internet companies, Russian communications operators, NGOs and security services. The decisions on improvement of the security of the Russian Internet segment will be taken after a series of events with the participation of senior officials.

The issue of the new security measures in the field of the Internet will be considered at a meeting of the Security Council with the participation of the President Vladimir Putin. According to the newspaper’s interlocutor in one of the security services, the training maneuvers conducted by the Ministry of Communications have shown that the Internet is vulnerable to external threats.

The sources of “Vedomosti” emphasize that we speak not of a permanent disconnection from the Internet, but of the equipment settings making it possible to isolate the Russian segment of the Internet from the World Wide Web in the event of an emergency. According to the agency’s interlocutor, the emergencies may be considered military actions or protests inside the country.

The officials will also consider the issue of the transfer of functions of a domain administrator to the Federal Telecommunications Agency subordinated to the Ministry of Communications. Now these functions are performed by the Coordination Centre of the National Internet Domain. The administration of domains includes regulation of the rules of delegation of the domains .ru and .rf, technological development of the Internet infrastructure, accreditation of domain registrars.

The President’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov confirmed that a meeting of the Security Council of the RF will be held on September 22, but he did not specify what issues will be discussed. In early September the State Duma deputy from the “United Russia” Ilya Kostunov prepared a package of proposals to the head of the Ministry of Communications Nikolai Nikiforov concerning the development of instructions for citizens and private companies on the use of the Internet in emergency situations. Instructions and technical solutions, according to the deputy’s ideas, should ensure autonomous operation of the Russian Internet segment in the case of a “deliberate destructive impact” on it.

In April 2014 the member of the Federation Council Maksim Kavdzharadze put forward the initiative to create an internal Internet isolated for access from the European Union and the United States. The senator proposed to call the internal Russian network “Cheburashka”. The maneuvers with the results revealing the vulnerability of the Russian Internet segment was conducted by the Ministry of Communications in late July. They were attended by the representatives of the Federal Security Service, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Interior, the experts of Rostelecom and the “Internet” Technical Centre.