Russian government instructs state-owned websites and services to switch to Russian DNS servers
According to Kommersant and other outlets, the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media has required state-owned websites and services to transfer their domain names to .ru, to switch to the Russian domain name system servers located in Russia, as well as to abandon foreign web hosting services, and to ‘strengthen password policies’. These measures – to be implemented by 11 March – were described as being necessary to protect state internet resources from cyberattacks, as well as from the possibility of ‘disconnection from the outside’. The Ministry of Digital Development reportedly clarified that the measures are intended to protect the country’s information infrastructure, and are not meant to disconnect Russia from the global internet. On 6 March, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko instructed the Ministry of Digital Development to ‘prepare priority measures to protect the country’s information infrastructure’.
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