Cybercrime and Punishment: Security, Information War, and the Future of Runet

Abstract

Cybersecurity à la Russe is marked by the authoritarian nature of the state that is primarily concerned by the question of regime survival. This logic motivates continuous securitization of the Internet that is framed as a potential accessory to crimes committed both by foreign and domestic actors. This chapter aims to show the discrepancies in Russian cyber politics at home and abroad, highlighting its struggle for more internet regulation that is seen by the Russian government as a panacea against perceived external attempts at regime change while exploiting digital public spaces abroad. At the same time, this chapter shows that despite seemingly formidable “cyber army” capabilities for external use, domestic surveillance and attempts to build a Great Russian Firewall are still lacking.