✙ Alterego (Midshipman) ✙**Massive Internet Outage in Russia on January 14: Linked to Censorship Equipment Issues**
On January 14, 2025, Russia experienced a significant internet outage affecting many online resources. A source close to one of the operators told *Vedomosti* that the cause was related to technical systems for countering threats (TSPUs), used by Roskomnadzor and the Main Radio Frequency Center (GRFC). These systems, designed to block websites and censorship circumvention tools, seem to have malfunctioned, leading to temporary disruptions in the domain name system.
**DNSSEC as the Cause of the Outage**
The primary cause of the outage was identified as an update to the **DNSSEC** protocol extensions. DNSSEC is intended to increase security by ensuring the authenticity of data when accessing websites. In the .ru domain zone, DNSSEC prevents the possibility of IP address substitution during attacks. According to the source, there was a "botched" update to the TSPUs, which caused the system to malfunction. The issue was likely due to the update not being fully delivered or being halted before it reached all operators.
**Previous Incidents and Economic Impact**
This type of malfunction occurred previously on January 30, 2024, when major Russian online resources, including Yandex, MTS, Beeline, Megafon, Ozon, Sberbank, VTB, and others, became inaccessible. Experts, including Anton Khalikov, director of NetAngels hosting, suggest that errors during the update of TSPU systems could be the cause of such incidents.
Notably, the outage affected a significant portion of internet traffic. According to *ZaTelecom*, traffic dropped from 5.6 Tbps to 3.6 Tbps, a 35% decrease, which essentially resulted in an internet shutdown. This one-hour disruption cost the Russian economy approximately **$16.8 million**, according to calculations by Mikhail Klimarev, director of the Internet Protection Society.
**TSPU Failures and Affected Resources**
Despite statements from telecom operators like Beeline, Rostelecom, and T2 that the outage was unrelated to issues within their networks, services that did not rely on censorship tools continued to operate. For example, **messengers** remained functional because the failure impacted only the protocols related to censorship, not the basic communication systems.
After the global disruption, Russian YouTube unexpectedly started working again. This suggested that some regional branches of GRFC may have temporarily disabled TSPUs and allowed traffic to bypass the filters. Philip Kulin, the author of the *Esher II* channel, noted that several regions may have bypassed filtering without confirming the outage itself.
**What Did Roskomnadzor Say?**
In an official statement, Roskomnadzor explained that the outage was caused by a "brief disruption of connectivity." This term refers to the difficulty in communication between different operators' networks, the number of routes, and intermediate nodes for internet traffic. However, the regulator did not explain why the outage did not affect **VKontakte**, Russia's largest social network, which is owned by the VK holding, led by Vladimir Kirienko, the son of the first deputy head of the Russian presidential administration.
**Fact-checking and Sources:**
*Vedomosti* — Source regarding the technical failures related to DNSSEC and TSPUs.
*ZaTelecom* — Data on the decline in internet traffic.
Mikhail Klimarev, Director of the Internet Protection Society — Economic consequences of the outage.
Philip Kulin, Author of *Esher II* Channel — Commentary on GRFC's actions.
Roskomnadzor — Official explanation of the cause of the outage.
**Hashtags**:
#Runet #Outage #TSPU #Roskomnadzor #DNSSEC #Censorship #Internet #Problems #FactChecking #Russia #Telecom #Economy #YouTube #GRFC
On January 14, 2025, Russia experienced a significant internet outage affecting many online resources. A source close to one of the operators told *Vedomosti* that the cause was related to technical systems for countering threats (TSPUs), used by Roskomnadzor and the Main Radio Frequency Center (GRFC). These systems, designed to block websites and censorship circumvention tools, seem to have malfunctioned, leading to temporary disruptions in the domain name system.
**DNSSEC as the Cause of the Outage**
The primary cause of the outage was identified as an update to the **DNSSEC** protocol extensions. DNSSEC is intended to increase security by ensuring the authenticity of data when accessing websites. In the .ru domain zone, DNSSEC prevents the possibility of IP address substitution during attacks. According to the source, there was a "botched" update to the TSPUs, which caused the system to malfunction. The issue was likely due to the update not being fully delivered or being halted before it reached all operators.
**Previous Incidents and Economic Impact**
This type of malfunction occurred previously on January 30, 2024, when major Russian online resources, including Yandex, MTS, Beeline, Megafon, Ozon, Sberbank, VTB, and others, became inaccessible. Experts, including Anton Khalikov, director of NetAngels hosting, suggest that errors during the update of TSPU systems could be the cause of such incidents.
Notably, the outage affected a significant portion of internet traffic. According to *ZaTelecom*, traffic dropped from 5.6 Tbps to 3.6 Tbps, a 35% decrease, which essentially resulted in an internet shutdown. This one-hour disruption cost the Russian economy approximately **$16.8 million**, according to calculations by Mikhail Klimarev, director of the Internet Protection Society.
**TSPU Failures and Affected Resources**
Despite statements from telecom operators like Beeline, Rostelecom, and T2 that the outage was unrelated to issues within their networks, services that did not rely on censorship tools continued to operate. For example, **messengers** remained functional because the failure impacted only the protocols related to censorship, not the basic communication systems.
After the global disruption, Russian YouTube unexpectedly started working again. This suggested that some regional branches of GRFC may have temporarily disabled TSPUs and allowed traffic to bypass the filters. Philip Kulin, the author of the *Esher II* channel, noted that several regions may have bypassed filtering without confirming the outage itself.
**What Did Roskomnadzor Say?**
In an official statement, Roskomnadzor explained that the outage was caused by a "brief disruption of connectivity." This term refers to the difficulty in communication between different operators' networks, the number of routes, and intermediate nodes for internet traffic. However, the regulator did not explain why the outage did not affect **VKontakte**, Russia's largest social network, which is owned by the VK holding, led by Vladimir Kirienko, the son of the first deputy head of the Russian presidential administration.
**Fact-checking and Sources:**
*Vedomosti* — Source regarding the technical failures related to DNSSEC and TSPUs.
*ZaTelecom* — Data on the decline in internet traffic.
Mikhail Klimarev, Director of the Internet Protection Society — Economic consequences of the outage.
Philip Kulin, Author of *Esher II* Channel — Commentary on GRFC's actions.
Roskomnadzor — Official explanation of the cause of the outage.
**Hashtags**:
#Runet #Outage #TSPU #Roskomnadzor #DNSSEC #Censorship #Internet #Problems #FactChecking #Russia #Telecom #Economy #YouTube #GRFC
The-14
EU Civil Protection & Humanita
Janez Lenarčič
EU International Partnerships
Jutta Urpilainen
🇪🇺EU at UN-NY
