Russia develops drone protection measures for data centers

Russia's Ministry of Digital Development has issued new recommendations to protect data centers from drone attacks following strikes on Yandex, VKontakte, and Sberbank facilities in October. The measures include physical infrastructure protection, data backups, and coordination with security services.

Data centers are classified into three categories based on their strategic importance. Category K1 includes strategic sites whose damage could disrupt essential state functions for at least one hour. Category K2 covers infrastructure supporting regional or sectoral economic and social systems, while Category K3 includes corporate centers where damage would cause significant company losses without major state consequences.

Proposed protections involve reducing the aerial visibility of existing centers and ensuring equipment halls, cooling systems, and power supplies are shielded from shockwaves and shrapnel. Implementation of these security measures could increase service costs by approximately 10%, excluding inflation.