“A real war has been waged against Russia.” How will he defend himself?

Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the meeting of the Russian Security Council that a large-scale war is being waged against Russia in cyberspace. According to him, the number of cyberattacks against the country has increased significantly.

“With the start of a special military operation in the Donbass in Ukraine, the difficulties in this area have become even more acute and serious, more ambitious,” said Putin.

“Actually, a real attack against Russia, a war in the information space, was launched,” he said.

Threats from different countries

Putin noted that the number of sophisticated cyberattacks has increased. “Lonely hackers, of course, cannot do that,” the president said.

“Attacks are launched from different provinces while they are clearly coordinated,” Putin said. He evaluates these as the actions of state structures and points out that cyber units are part of the armies of some countries.

The media, financial institutions, socially important portals and networks, as well as officials, have been attacked, the president said.

“Attempts and illegal infiltration of corporate networks of leading Russian companies are recorded much more often,” Putin said.

He described the hackers’ tactics: “Access to Russian Internet resources was blocked, information became inaccessible or replaced with fake fake information. At the same time, state-of-the-art algorithms and converged technologies are used, and increasingly sophisticated software that can hit devices using various operating systems.”

The nature of threats and challenges to the country’s cybersecurity is changing rapidly, and this needs to be taken into account, the president said.

“The information space itself is undergoing rapid development. All this, of course, must be taken into account, in general, keep all these matters in the field of constant attention and control, ”said the author.

“Ready to Attack”

The president believes that aggression against Russia in cyberspace, and the “sanction attack” in general, has failed.

“In general, we were ready for this attack, and this is the result of systematic work carried out in recent years,” said the head of state.

He reminded that the sanctions imposed on Russia limited access to foreign information technologies, programs and products. Several foreign suppliers have unilaterally terminated technical support for their equipment in Russia, and there are known restrictions on running or blocking programs after updating.

“All this must be taken into account when Russian companies, authorities and administrations use and promote new foreign information technologies and products that have already been established,” the chairman said.

The president described the issue as complex and important to Russia’s sovereignty and security and economy.

Establishment of information security system

To solve cybersecurity issues, Putin suggested considering the creation of a state information protection system.

“It is necessary to strengthen the defense of the domestic digital space – there should be no weak points here. “It is of fundamental importance to eliminate the risks of leakage of confidential information and personal data of citizens, including tighter control of the rules for the use of official equipment,” the head of state said.

He also suggested that the Security Council of the Russian Federation discuss the draft foundations of state policy in the field of securing Russia’s critical IT infrastructure. Putin reminded “From 2025, the use of foreign information security tools will be generally prohibited”.

He called on “to create a modern Russian electronic component base as soon as possible”, as well as to develop and introduce our own technological equipment, including those necessary for the production of software and hardware systems.

“The digitalization processes that are actively going on in the public administration system and the Russian economy should be protected as much as possible from possible negative effects that may come from outside today,” the President said. Putin described the transition to domestic equipment, technologies, programs and products as the “obvious way” to implement this task.