Russia Wants To Launch Backup DNS System By August 1, 2018 (bleepingcomputer.com)

An anonymous reader shares a report from BleepingComputer: The Russian government plans to build its own "independent internet infrastructure" that will be used by BRICS member states -- Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The plan was part of the topic list at the October meeting of the Russian Security Council, and President Vladimir Putin approved the initiative with a completion deadline of August 1, 2018, according to Russian news agency RT. The Russian Security Council has today formally asked the country's government to start the building of a backup global DNS system that Russia and fellow BRICS member states could use. The Russian Security Council cited the "increased capabilities of western nations to conduct offensive operations in the informational space." Russia, China, and many other countries have criticized the U.S. for hoarding control over the domain naming system (DNS), a position they claim has allowed the U.S. to intercept and tap global internet traffic. The U.S. has relinquished control over the DNS system last year.

Comments

They're forking the web

[Paradroid888]

I don't know if this can be stopped but it should be.

Re:They're forking the web

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm sure they are wanting to do this only to increase their capabilities to conduct offensive operations in the informational space without getting caught.

Re:They're forking the web

[Anonymous Coward]

You don't know how "the web" works. Anyone can make their own DNS system and many of us do. It's easy and changes nothing about the rest of the internet.

Re:They're forking the web

[Escogido]

My guess Russian logic goes like this: it is not improbable that relationship between the US and Russia could deteriorate to a level where the US would use control of the root DNS as a weapon. Unfortunate as it may be, but this move appears to be an adequate reaction to this possible threat.

Re:They're forking the web

[Spazmania]

Aren't you kind of proving his point?

Re:They're forking the web

[arth1]

I'm sure they are wanting to do this only to increase their capabilities to conduct offensive operations in the informational space without getting caught.

This would only bring the capabilities back to par with the US/Israel alliance which already "conducts offensive operations in the informational space". It's a catch-up in the arms race, not a leap ahead.

The domain name system being a vulnerability when under a single controller is not a new thing, and worries people in the West too. Efforts like Alternic were doomed to fail because there's no way to make people use it. At least countries have some clout and can make sure that its ISPs and OS/device vendors will use a different root server, or even re-route requests.

Re:They're forking the web

[jbmartin6]

"the web" isn't a monolithic thing which can be forked. It is a network of networks. Lots of different groups do lots of different things using the network, this is just one more

Backup?

[sqorbit]

A backup makes it sound like it is a plan in case of failure. This sounds a bit like they are looking for an alternate DNS if they disapprove of something the US (or other countries) has done. From the article "In addition, the backup DNS system also allows these states to isolate websites and services that other countries could not access."

Re:It should have happened long ago

[Anonymous Coward]

Please let this be the stupidest comment I read today.

Alternate DNS Servers

[bobstreo]

Are only useful if people point their requests to them.

Just ask your comcast or spectrum servers.

It could be worse, the UN could be taking over the root servers, followed by 14 years of meetings to decide which DNS Council member would have complete control.

Re:Alternate DNS Servers

[jon3k]

This is how I expect it to work, along with requiring Russian ISPs to block DNS requests to any other address by law.

So previously, resolution (for 99% of end users) worked like this: User > ISP DNS (recursive resolver) > Authoritative nameserver (eventually, please lets not get dragged into the weeds here, we all understand the process)

Now it will be: User > ISP DNS (forwarder) > Russian Government DNS Servers (recursive resolver) > Authoritative name server

Then, the government just requires ISP to: deny [tcp|udp] any any 53.

The only way around this would be for people to run DNS on a non-standard port (and reconfigure resolver libraries to use a non-standard port, good luck on peoples iphones) or to use a VPN to tunnel traffic. This would effectively block probably 99% of Russian (or BRICS) DNS traffic.

I don't think their goal is to block 100%. This is to block enough to have a de facto internet "Kill Switch". Anytime they want, the "Russian Government DNS" server above just disables recursive DNS resolution for everything but Russian government TLD and you've effectively shut down the Internet. This also gives the government a tremendous amount of direct access to data from users. It's terrifying and awful, but smart for them.

Paranoia alongside hypocracy

[zarmanto]

Every bit of that was hypocritical bull. It's an open secret that Russia has been conducting their own offensive operations for years now, and they have been getting away with it specifically because the US can't "intercept and tap global internet traffic" as the Russians claim.

But their excuses for segmenting off their own corner of the internet aren't really meant for us, anyway; they're directed inward. In fact, this entire maneuver is almost certainly directly linked to Russia's desire (and that of their allies) to more thoroughly block access at will to large swaths of the internet, for their own populace. Don't like the latest anti-Russian sentiment on Slashdot or on Facebook, because it comes to close to exposing the truth? No problem -- just block it! When they start implementing their real agenda, they'll likely position it as an "anti-porn" initiative or some such thing, but make no mistake; this is all about controlling the information that reaches the people that matter the most... the ones who might one day rise up against the Orwellian control being exerted by their government.

Information control only works for so long, before little bits of the truth leak through the cracks.