Russia unveils its new National Security Strategy
With a particular focus on Information Security
A year and a half ago, the Security Council of Russia announced the works on the new National Security Strategy (NSS) — a fundamental document of strategic nature. On June 2, the Russian president Vladimir Putin signed Decree No. 400, adopting the new NSS that replaced the old version in force since December 31, 2015.
However, the publication of the strategy, expected in late 2020 - early 2021, was delayed. Most likely, this delay was partly due to the US presidential election and the need to reassess the positions of the new White House leadership. Two weeks after the Putin-Biden summit in Geneva, the strategy was unveiled, inscribing the ideological rivalry with the West, embodied by the United States.
Information security placed at the heart of the document
The importance Moscow gives to informational issues is nothing new. Moscow was one of the first countries to adopt an Information Security Doctrine in 2000, the current version of which came into effect in 2016.
Unlike the previous version, the new NSS gives a whole chapter to information security even if this was not unexpected. The document notes several aspects that Moscow says weigh on its information security.
One can find there the warning against the use of information and communication technologies in order to interfere in the internal affairs of States, as well as "to undermine their sovereignty and violate the territorial integrity ".
The document also notes the danger of cyber attacks, however it is not possible to find the term "cyber" in the NSS, which again confirms the fundamental difference in approach between the West and Russia.
The Strategy sets a number of tasks in order to protect the informational security of the Russian state, which range from improving IT protection of critical infrastructure and increasing the security and stability of the Russian segment of the Internet - the so-called “RuNet”, as well as the development of the forces and means of the Information Confrontation (информационное противоборство — informatsionnoye protivoborstvo).
Defend traditional values
The document emphasizes ideological rivalry, and according to its authors, "traditional Russian spiritual, moral, cultural and historical values are actively under attack by the United States and its allies."
The logic of civilizational confrontation can be seen through the NSS, where Russia finds itself "under attack" by the West. Moscow sees this as "informational and psychological sabotage" against it and sees "Westernization" as a phenomenon which "increases the threat of loss of cultural sovereignty."
According to this Strategy, Moscow reserves the right to respond "symmetrically and asymmetrically" to sanctions as well as to activities involving modern information and communication technologies. A drastic change in tone that differentiates this document from the NSS adopted in 2015.
Worth noting, that this document is in line with other previously adopted documents, including the Fundamental Principles of Russian Federation Policy in the Field of International Information Security, adopted on April 12.
Summaryzing, Kremlin is rather afraid of a conflict with the West. Consequently, this NSS is a confrontation-oriented document that aims to send a message of Moscow "readying for a conflict". The increased use of cyberattacks, information and psychological operations, propaganda efforts against the Western democracies should be expected, as well as possibly a more agressive policies in what Russia perceives as a "near abroad".