Inside Cyber Warfare, 2nd Edition

Chapter 15. The Russian Federation: Information Warfare Framework

Russia: The Information Security State

The Russian Federation’s cyber posture was one of President Putin’s highest priorities after taking office in December 1999. As a result, Russia probably has the most coherent state plan integrating private and government cyber sectors. The plan’s unclassified aspects are elaborated in documents available on Russian government websites. The plan’s implementation is seen through Russian laws, presidential decrees, and government regulations, contracts, and actions. The plan, however, also has classified annexes addressing perceived internal and external cyber threats, as well as the information operations (IO) capabilities needed to address those threats. Implementation can also be tracked, although with somewhat more difficulty.

Russian Government Policy

The first Russian National Security Blueprint issued under President Yeltsin in December 1997 placed little emphasis on information warfare. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin chaired a fall 1999 series of Russian Security Council meetings to revise the document. The new National Security Concept, issued under President Putin in January 2000, pointed to “information warfare” and the disruptive threat to information, telecommunications, and data-storage systems. The new Military Doctrine issued in July 2000 discussed hostile information operations conducted through either technical or psychological means.^[76]

In September 2000 the Security ...