Author: Vision & Global Trends — 27/06/2019
Below, we report a brief account of the Conference on the Defense of the Russian Federation, held in the framework of the International Military-Technical Forum «ARMY-2019», June 25-30, Patriot ExpoCenter, Moscow Region, Russia. The report is taken from the main Russian media.
Topical issues of information countermeasures were discussed by the participants of the conference, which is in the framework of the International Military-Technical Forum “Army-2019”. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who opened the conference, noted that the West is increasingly using means of information wars in its policy of containing Russia. And the Russian military department is not going to sit on the defensive, but is ready to go on the offensive on this information front.
Sergei Shoigu explained why Russia did not please the West. Our country, according to him, actually regained the status of the second pole lost after the collapse of the USSR, keeping the world in global equilibrium. “What is the reason for all this agony (let’s call it that) of the West? – the Minister of Defense asked a question and immediately answered it: – With the birth of the second pole of the world order. Which seems to be buried, everything has already been done – a monument has been made, a fence, wreaths have been prepared … And then suddenly they decided to give birth to the second pole. And now he is born. ”
According to him, the world is becoming multipolar again. “And this, of course, does not like. At the same time, the West still does not understand that it’s impossible to simply take it and start to govern today’s world, ”the minister stressed.
In turn, First Deputy Minister of Defense Ruslan Tsalikov noted that in relations with the West “the risks of opposition by military methods had gone”, “they could not do anything in military opposition”.
“But opposition to non-military methods did not stop for a second. This is an expansion in parts of language, faith, culture, history, ”said the First Deputy Minister of Defense.
Conference participants called some means of dealing with information threats and challenges. So, the Ministry of Defense of Russia initiated a draft law on punishment for the demolition and desecration of monuments to defenders of the Fatherland abroad, distortion of history, and expects deputies and senators to support this legislative initiative.
Those who, for example, made the decision to demolish a monument, and those who condone the destruction of the monument, did not take any measures to protect it. “At least according to our laws,” said Sergey Shoigu. – Such people should not have the right to conduct business in our country. They should be for our country not entry. And if they entered, they should be subjected to our law for their actions. ”
At the conference, the spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Defense, Major General Igor Konashenkov, spoke about the nature of the information threats. Based on the data available to the agency, he predicted increased attacks on the Armed Forces and the military leadership. “In the near future, information pressure is expected to increase against representatives of the leadership of the Russian Armed Forces of all levels – from command of formations, associations, types of troops and types to direct military-political leadership,” said Igor Konashenkov.
He also announced cyber attack statistics on information resources of the Ministry of Defense. The number of such attacks increases annually by an average of 12%. “Over the past six years, the number of attempts to disable critical information infrastructure facilities has increased by 57%,” said a spokesman for the Ministry of Defense.
Representatives of the Russian IT industry supported the initiatives of the military in information security. So, the president of the InfoWatch group of companies, Natalya Kasperskaya, said: “In our opinion, it is necessary to create a monitoring center that would be engaged not only in analysis, but also in advance, repelling information attacks. Now there is no such monitoring, moreover, there is not even a theory how to do it. And, in fact, the opposition is carried out after the fact, when something happens, the reaction begins. ”
According to the expert, it would be good, “if the center were created in the Ministry of Defense, because it is an effective State structure that is not afraid of sanctions and has sufficient administrative and monetary resources to build interdepartmental interaction.”
