The government of Kazakhstan passed a resolution to the state technical service responsible for informatization, communication and broadcasting to the structure of the National Security Committee (NSC). The structure is transferred to the maintenance of special services from the Ministry of Information and Communications, that is, from the civil department to the power department. It is assumed that the State Technical Service of the National Security Committee will work on projects for the "centralized management of telecommunications networks, a single gateway to Internet access (primarily for civil servants - so that they do not climb on" unnecessary sites. "- VP), response services On computer incidents and the Information Systems Monitoring Center. "

Simply put, now under the control of the Kazakh special services there is full control over the service, which has a kind of switch that allows you to suddenly deprive all citizens of the Internet, mobile communications - and access to television at the same time. In principle, the approach to such a universal blocker was in the KNB and earlier - in June 2016 during the terrorist attacks on Aktobe the city sat without mobile communication and the Internet for several days - but before that it was necessary to observe decency and make contact with civilians. Now the masks are broken, says Arb Narmanbetov, retired colonel of the National Security Committee.

"All work for the same operative or investigator of the National Security Committee is much simplified and facilitated. If earlier he had to run to two addresses to the court and the Ministry of Information and Communications of the Republic of Kazakhstan in order to coordinate his decision to conduct an operational and technical event, now one court is enough. And then easily go, at least for tea, to your neighbor along the corridor to the technical service and solve there all the questions, as they say, without any complications and obstacles, "- describes the new scheme of work Narmanbetov.

Both supporters and opponents of the power bloc of the country recognize: this is an unequivocal strengthening of the National Security Committee, headed by former Prime Minister Karim Masimov. In principle, it all went: in January, President Nursultan Nazarbayev instructed to create a system "Cybershield of Kazakhstan" - a set of measures that would protect the country's computers from intrusion; In the concept, the text of which will be discussed in parliament in autumn, computer attacks are proposed to be qualified as "an act of armed attack" and the Ministry of Defense should respond to it. The NSC is assigned the role of curator of the program (and, by and large, its developer), and the Ministry of Internal Affairs should "ensure the high detection of currently, to a large extent, latent crimes committed using information technology." That is, to identify and punish the Internet-recidivists hiding behind the keyboard.

On July 13, during the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the KNB, Nazarbayev launched a big speech about Kazakhstan's "enemies": it talked about international terrorism, hybrid wars (hello to Russian TV), and some internal opponents. The incumbent president defined the National Security as the vanguard of the battle with all three groups, advising "to keep the powder dry." Thus, in Kazakhstan, the KNB has finally established itself as the main power structure. And this is a decisive step towards the dictatorship of the special services, complains the director of the International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law, Yevgeny Zhovtis. "There is no longer any possibility of controlling the KNB [and its actions]," Zhovtis said. "This is absolutely a political step, and I personally do not like the reference to the fact that it is possible to fight terrorism and extremism so effectively."

It should be noted that in the loyal innovations in the Kazakh media, the transfer of the technical service to the KNB is considered exclusively from the point of view of improving efficiency in the fight against cyber threats and cyber-terrorism. Site 365info.kz quotes political scientist Anton Morozov, who cites as an example the story with Norway, where the nationalists took seatbacks in the bus for women in burqa. "Let's imagine that this happened not in some happy tolerant country, but in a situation where the situation is already tense. Appeals spread through the network, people try to organize themselves, managed aggressive structures are built ...

"What will be the surest way to stabilize social tension?" Of course, the intervention of the technical service, which controls communications and the Internet "

... Naturally, with parallel explanatory media work, "- justifies the future shutdown of Morozov.

But Yevgeny Zhovtis believes that the speech will not be so much about these cases, but rather about sweeping away from all kinds of "surprises" during the transition of power from one person to another. "The KNB is an instrument in the hands of that part of the elite that is now at the top. This (strengthening of the KNB) is not only a means of fighting with another part of the elite, but also a means against the communications system in general, "says the human rights activist. - For the current government, the Internet and social networks are a source of danger, the "Maidana", in relation to which there is already paranoia, and now there is the possibility of a switch if not completely turned off, then "muffled". Fortunately, China's experience in this regard is. "

In other words, not only the big "aha" (elder brother) will follow the Kazakhs, but also the big "agashka" (the ironic name of the official in Kazakhstan).