Russia plans to abandon all foreign software and move to solutions developed entirely by local companies, but given the support expressed by newly elected US President Donald Trump, many expect it to reconsider this effort or at least slow down in the short term.
"This will not happen," Russian officials reportedly told Bloomberg, and the Kremlin is indeed looking for ways to accelerate the transition to domestic software companies, and to avoid solutions developed by foreign companies, especially those from the US, which are considered a potential threat to national security.
“This does not depend on external factors,” said Vladimir Putin ’s spokesman , Dmitry Peskov. “It is a consistent strategy.”
Russian authorities believe that the country urgently needs protection from cyberattacks and think that software developed by American companies, such as Microsoft, could hide some backdoors and bugs that would help other national spies in their plans.
“It is a matter of national security,” said Andrey Chernogorov, executive secretary of the Duma Committee on Strategic Information Systems. “Failure to replace external IT systems would be tantamount to abandoning the military.”.
Russia is forcing local businesses to switch to domestic software companies, and a list of foreign alternatives was published earlier this year to support this transition. Businesses should consult this list first, and if they still want to buy software made outside Russia's borders, they will have to explain why, as Russian authorities closely monitor the adoption of foreign products in the country.
Microsoft and other American companies that could be affected by Russia's plans have not yet commented on these efforts, but there is clearly a small hope that President-elect Donald Trump can change the situation.
