Long before waging war on Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin was working to make Russia's internet a powerful tool of surveillance and social control akin to China's so-called Great Firewall.
Amazon Web Services, a major provider of cloud computing services, continues to operate in Russia, although it says it’s not taking on any new customers. Both Cloudflare, which helps shield websites from denial-of-service attacks and malware, and Akamai, which boosts site performance by putting internet content closer to its audience, also continue to serve their Russian customers, with exceptions including cutting off state-owned companies and firms under sanctions.
“We have no desire to cut off Russian individuals and think that an open internet is critical to the world,” Cogent CEO Dave Schaeffer said in an interview. Direct connections to servers inside Russia, he said, could potentially"be used for offensive cyber efforts by the Russian government.” Other major backbone providers in Europe and Asia also continue to serve Russia, a net importer of bandwidth, said Doug Madory, director of internet analysis for the network management firm Kentik. He has noted no appreciable drop in connectivity from outside providers.
Its telecommunications oversight agency, Rozkomnadzor, successfully tested the system at scale a year ago when it throttled access to Twitter. It uses hundreds of so-called middleboxes — router-like devices run and remotely controlled by bureaucrats that can block individual websites and services — installed by law at all internet providers inside Russia.
“Walling off a country’s internet is complicated, culturally, economically and technologically. And it becomes far more complicated with a country like Russia, whose internet, unlike China’s, was not originally built out with government control in mind,” he said.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Russia-Ukraine war: Putin approves bringing 'volunteer' fighters from Syria, elsewhereRussian forces expanded their offensive in Ukraine on Friday, striking new areas in the country’s west, while Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the recruitment of “volunteers” from Syria and elsewhere to join the fight.
Read more »
Russia-Ukraine war: U.S., allies turn up economic heat on PutinPresident Joe Biden said the U.S. has sent more than $1 billion in the past year to Ukraine, which includes equipment to combat Russian tanks and aircraft.
Read more »
Why any Putin-Zelensky summit is an unlikely end to warUkrainian president Zelensky has said that direct talks with Putin were the only way to end the war.
Read more »
BAFTA host Rebel Wilson insults Vladimir Putin amid Russia's war on UkraineBAFTA host Rebel Wilson made her feelings about the Russian President very clear as introduced one performance on Sunday. The world has watched on horror since Vladimir Putin began ordering a string of horrifying attacks on Russia's neighbouring country last month
Read more »
Putin in 'strategic disaster' with Ukraine war, says retired US generalThe Russian president's forces are 'doing very badly,' and he underestimated the Western response, Barry McCaffrey said Sunday.
Read more »