Russia has announced the successful test of its national internet alternative – Runet. According to Tass, the exercises were held on December 23 and aimed to ensure the stability of the network. The head of Russia’s Ministry of Communications, Alexey Sokolov, said that it showed the country was ready to maintain the integrity of the network “in the event of threats.”
Commenting on the news, Sokolov is quoted as saying:
“The results of thee exercises showed that, in general, both authorities and telecom operators are ready to effectively respond to emerging risks and threats, to ensure the stable functioning of both the internet and the unified telecommunication network in the Russian Federation.”
A range of tests were carried out on the network, they included tests to ensure the integrity and security of the network from external forces, another test focused on ensuring the protection of personal data being shared across cellular networks. With the Internet of Things (IoT) expected to become increasingly important, the government investigated the risks to IoT devices in order to find ways to mitigate any problems.
Critics of the initiative have said that the Russian government would have a lot more control over the content being distributed and would be able to block content from the rest of the world from coming onto Runet. In the long term, Russia may seek to follow China’s lead in developing indigenous alternatives to already popular web services.