As per various reports, it seems that Russia is also acting swiftly to replace Windows with homegrown Astra Linux. It’s a Debian-based distribution that was originally launched by a company named RusBITech in 2008. Initially, RusBITech focused on the private sector but later on expanded to the local government bodies.
To make sure that more Russian bodies adopt the operating system, Astra Linux also got certifications to handle “secret” information of the government.
Coming back to the recent development, Astra Linux got the security clearance from the Russian Federal Service for Technical and Export Control (FSTEC) on April 17, 2019. As a result, the OS has got a “special importance” clearance to be used government information of the highest degree of secrecy.
Back in January 2018, the Russian defense ministry announced the plans to ditch Windows. The ministry said that Microsoft’s operating system could hide backdoors exploitable by American agencies. Similar reasons were also given by the Chinese Military when its plans to ditch Windows were revealed.
It should be remembered though that is not a new move as all the BRICS nations had already resolved to do this about 2 or 3 years ago and we’ve seen this announced by China, Russia, India and Brazil. South Africa has been silent but it had developed Impi Linux already back in the mid-2000’s for use by the government.
See https://fossbytes.com/russian-military-astra-linux-adoption/
#linux #opensource #security
#^Goodbye Windows: Russian Military’s Astra Linux Adoption Moves Forward
As per various reports, it seems that Russia is acting swiftly to replace Windows with homegrown Astra Linux. It’s a Debian-based distribution that was originally launched by a company named RusBITech in 2008. Initially, RusBITech focused on the private sector but later on expanded to the local government bodies.