Russia’s Ministry of Digital Development has approved recommendations for protecting data centers from drone attacks, including a proposal to place particularly important strategic facilities underground or in bunkers, the Kremlin-aligned newspaper Kommersant reported on Oct. 25.
An industry task force under the ministry divided critical data centers into three categories, proposing different security requirements for each:
- K1 — strategic facilities whose damage would disrupt government functions for at least one hour;
- K2 — facilities that support economically or socially important systems at the regional or industry level;
- K3 — corporate data centers whose disruption would primarily affect the company rather than government agencies.
For existing data centers, the recommendations call for reducing their visibility from the air and building layered defenses around them. Strategically important data centers that are still under construction should be placed underground or in bunker-type facilities, and all protective structures should ensure the continued operation of server halls, cooling systems, and power supplies.
The recommendations also call for the creation of a centralized coordination center through which data center operators can communicate with emergency services, law enforcement agencies and the military. Industry representatives interviewed by Kommersant generally described the measures as effective.
Following a recent wave of attacks on data centers, with the latest targeting facilities run by Russia’s Federal Tax Service in the Nizhny Novgorod Region, operators have already begun installing anti-drone netting at their facilities. Implementing the new measures, however, could increase provider service prices by as much as 10%.
