The Internet we know today had its beginnings as ARPANET, and it was the creation of the Defense Department in the United States to facilitate robust communications between computer installations in the event of a nuclear war or other major catastrophe.
Russia’s Izvestia reported in the week of June 7 that they are creating the same thing – a “closed cloud” storage for the purpose of storing proprietary and confidential information. This is the latest improvement in a radically improving Russian military organization that will allow the country to function within its own borders independently of the global Internet, should such actions be deemed necessary.
Further, according to DefenseOne.com, this new cloud is comprised of all-Russian hardware and software, and it is very inexpensive. The cost is estimated to be about 290 million rubles, or about $6.25 million, and it is expected to be complete and operational by the year 2020.
The cloud is to be connected to what is called the “Closed Transfer Segment” which is the name given the Russian military’s internal network. Vladimir Putin’s leading IT advisor, Herman Klimenko, noted that in wartime, the country could disconnect entirely from the global internet and run its commercial traffic entirely on the Closed Transfer Segment.
The Russian innovations are interesting – In 2017, the country began developing its own DNS (directory naming system) that allows one’s own web browser to connect to any web server in the world.
The software noted above that is all Russian is based on Linux, so it is open-source at the base and free of interference from American companies such as Microsoft. This began development in 2010. In 2015, the Russian government mandated that all data on its citizens be stored on Russian soil.
These developments are further proof that the Russian Federation is shaking off the idea that it must somehow depend on the West for its best general welfare. This sense of either envy or in some cases, almost dependence on Western products and technologies reached a height after the fall of Communism, but under President Vladimir Putin’s leadership, the nation has found its own identity as a global power and is continuing to pursue a course based on its own interests and needs.
While the stance of the Russian Federation is not in any way hostile to the rest of the world, sometimes the Western powers have been rattled by Russia’s refusal to kowtow to them. The bellicose rhetoric generated in the West in an effort to cow Russia has backfired, and so have concurrent sanctions and rumor-mongering.
The Russian Federation is after its own version of “making itself great again.” And while this need not be a cause for concern in the West, it is and will remain cast in that light. And as the result of the West’s own refusal to accept reality, Russia’s move towards complete independence of the rest of the world continues.
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