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14 August 2024

Russia’s Becoming More Digitally Isolated—and Dependent on China

Justin Sherman

The U.S. Commerce Department recently banned Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky from providing certain antivirus and cybersecurity products and services in the United States on national security grounds. American businesses have until September 29 to remove covered Kaspersky products from their systems and replace them.

But this is hardly the first blow for Russia’s global tech connectedness. Over the last several years, and especially since 2022, Russia has become more digitally isolated—and increasingly dependent on China—with significant ramifications for human rights in Russia, cybersecurity, and the international community. The United States and its partners should seize the policy opportunities created by Russia’s growing isolation and dependence on Chinese technology.

After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, there was something of a digital technology boom in Russia. Scientifically and technically talented individuals moved abroad to seek economic opportunities, started outsourcing programming for Fortune 1000 firms, and founded Russian companies such as Yandex (a search engine launched in 1997, one year ahead of Google). Some even turned to the fast-growing world of cybercrime. Into the early 2000s, Russia’s digital tech sphere was also fairly connected with other countries. Non-Russian technology from Intel, AMD, Samsung, Apple, Microsoft, and other companies was found all throughout Russia. Business and university partnerships were fairly common, too.

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