Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

japadobo t1_ja45pf0 wrote

Can't we just cut the internet cables servicing russia

67

Ferelwing t1_ja4ab7r wrote

If they outsource the hacks or send their hackers elsewhere in the world then cutting the cable isn't going to work. That doesn't even get into how easy it would be to reroute the traffic to another location that isn't "cut off", they could just reroute through China if they wanted to. China being their ally they could just use the cables that run there. To stop the hacking it would require people to actually follow the best practices for IT security and let's be honest here, the vast majority of people don't and it only takes one mistake to leave your network open.

57

flinnbicken t1_ja4v49y wrote

I've seen a lot of them coming through Dubai as someone who works in cybersecurity.

27

Ferelwing t1_ja4wlc6 wrote

I am not surprised at all. Considering how interconnected everyone is there really isn't a way to "cut Russia off".

My brother says that ransomware and state sponsored infiltrations for the most part are the most common forms these days. Is that what you're seeing as well? (He's also in cybersecurity)

If what he mentioned is the main behaviors then even if we got rid of cables that doesn't prevent satellites etc. Sure they'd be "slower" but if all one has to do is connect to set it off there's not really much need for a fast connection. As for bot networks with DDOS, I doubt they need a fast connection to set off the attack either.

10

VegasKL t1_ja5jqa2 wrote

>I am not surprised at all. Considering how interconnected everyone is there really isn't a way to "cut Russia off".

Pretty much. Except for maybe very poor nations, it's impossible to isolate them as all they need is a beachhead somewhere where they can then bounce their connections all around (to hide said beachhead). In Russia's case, that could be a satellite connection to another country or even some form of line of sight connection over a border. Just to name a very few.

5

Ivcsi t1_ja53993 wrote

Talk about a bad idea... They could route traffic through one of their friendlier neighbours, or just have their agents work out of different nations.

What that would do is further reinforce the global precedent of "if you oppose the incumbent order we can do whatever we want".

That might not sound like a bad thing to you, but nations aren't friendly fairies flying around spreading love through the hills. There are plenty of nations out there that, while not openly hostile, don't want to exist for the rest of eternity in a USA dominated world.

India, as an example, has a bright outlook for the future, and is already very concerned by what the global reaction to the Ukrainian war may mean for its future.

At the end of the day, all justifications of right and wrong aside, we basically live in a world where America and American aligned nations can bend and bypass international laws as they see fit, while nations opposed to these collective powers can not. While America may have no reason to oppose a nation like India today, that may very well change in the future.

Doing something like cutting a nation off from the internet will without a doubt convince many other nations to lower their reliance on the world wide net so that they never find themselves on the wrong side of the gun. This would inevitably translate to things like invasive national firewalls, state endorsed copy right infringement, and secondary networks between non-Western nations (ala a central Asia network).

And then there's also the risk of Russia taking this as a sign of "well maybe I should just cut your wires as well".

5