Internet In Kazakhstan
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The Internet in Kazakhstan (
ccTLD A country code top-level domain (ccTLD) is an Internet top-level domain generally used or reserved for a country, sovereign state, or dependent territory identified with a country code. All ASCII ccTLD identifiers are two letters long, and all tw ...
: .kz) is growing rapidly. Between 2001 and 2005, the number of
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...
users increased from 200,000 to 1 million. By 2007,
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...
reported
Internet penetration Global Internet usage is the number of people who use the Internet worldwide. Internet users In 2015, the International Telecommunication Union estimated about 3.2 billion people, or almost half of the world's population, would be online by the ...
levels of 8.5 percent, rising to 12.4 percent in 2008 and 34.3% in 2010. By 2013, Kazakhstani officials reported Internet penetration levels of 62.2 percent, with about 10 million users. There are five first-tier
ISP An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides a myriad of services related to accessing, using, managing, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, non ...
s with international Internet connections and approximately 100 second-tier ISPs that are purchasing
Internet traffic Internet traffic is the flow of data within the entire Internet, or in certain network links of its constituent networks. Common traffic measurements are total volume, in units of multiples of the byte, or as transmission rates in bytes per cert ...
from the first-tier ISPs. As of 2019, more than 75% of Kazakhstan's population has access to the internet, a figure well ahead of any other country in Central Asia. The Internet consumption in the country rose from 356 PB in 2018 to 1,000 PB in 2022. As of 2021 Kazakhstan is currently rated "not free" by
Freedom House Freedom House is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. It is best known for political advocacy surrounding issues of democracy, Freedom (political), political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, wi ...
's
Freedom on the Net Freedom House is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. It is best known for political advocacy surrounding issues of democracy, political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, with Wendell Willkie an ...
report.


Penetration

The National Statistical Agency reports that 73 percent of Kazakh users access the
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...
by
dial-up Dial-up Internet access is a form of Internet access that uses the facilities of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to establish a connection to an Internet service provider (ISP) by dialing a telephone number on a conventional telepho ...
, 15 percent by means of
ADSL Asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) is a type of digital subscriber line (DSL) technology, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over Copper wire, copper telephone lines than a conventional voiceband modem ...
, and 6 percent by satellite access. Over 50 percent of users accessed the Internet from home in 2008. Forty-two percent of families living in towns with populations of at least 70,000 people had a
personal computer A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as Word processor, word processing, web browser, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and PC ...
. KazakhTelekom (KT) reported an increase in its
broadband In telecommunications, broadband or high speed is the wide-bandwidth (signal processing), bandwidth data transmission that exploits signals at a wide spread of frequencies or several different simultaneous frequencies, and is used in fast Inter ...
subscriber base from 270,000 to 456,000 in 2008. Despite these increases, Internet usage is concentrated in urban centers, while outside those centers access remains beyond the reach of most Kazakhs. This article incorporates text from this source, which is available under a
Creative Commons Creative Commons (CC) is an American non-profit organization and international network devoted to educational access and expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. The organization has release ...
attribution license.
The official language in Kazakhstan is Kazakh, spoken by 64 percent of the population.
Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...
, spoken by 85 percent, is recognized as the official language of
international communication International communication (also referred to as the ''study of global communication'' or transnational communication) is the communication practice that occurs across international borders. The need for international communication was due to th ...
. Russian is the most popular language used on the Internet (94.1 percent), followed by Kazakh (4.5 percent), and English (1.4 percent), a figure which may account for the high percentage of Kazakh
website A website (also written as a web site) is any web page whose content is identified by a common domain name and is published on at least one web server. Websites are typically dedicated to a particular topic or purpose, such as news, educatio ...
s hosted in Russia (including those with the country-code domain name “.kz”). Six percent of “.kz” domain websites are hosted in Kazakhstan, with the remainder hosted in Russia and elsewhere. The cost of Internet access remains high relative to the national average salary (54,500 tenge in 2008, or US$363). KazakhTelecom's fee for unlimited ADSL access with capacity of 128
kbit/s In telecommunications, data transfer rate is the average number of bits ( bitrate), characters or symbols ( baudrate), or data blocks per unit time passing through a communication link in a data-transmission system. Common data rate units are mu ...
were US$30. However, as a result of the ongoing liberalization in the telecommunications sector in 2007, operators’ fees fell considerably. Since 2007, schools in Kazakhstan are provided with free dial-up access, which is being expanded to include broadband connections (although access is restricted to Web sites and other Internet resources within the “.kz” domain).


Internet service providers

KazakhTelecom is the operator of the national
data transfer Data communication, including data transmission and data reception, is the transfer of data, transmitted and received over a point-to-point or point-to-multipoint communication channel. Examples of such channels are copper wires, optical ...
network, which connects the major cities of Kazakhstan. It features a total bandwidth of 957 Mbit/s and a carrying capacity in separate local segments of up to 10
Gbit/s In telecommunications, data transfer rate is the average number of bits ( bitrate), characters or symbols ( baudrate), or data blocks per unit time passing through a communication link in a data-transmission system. Common data rate units are mu ...
. KazakhTelecom had about 2.5 million
fixed line A landline is a physical telephone connection that uses metal wires or optical fiber from the subscriber's premises to the network, allowing multiple phones to operate simultaneously on the same phone number. It is also referred to as plain old ...
subscribers in 2005 and accounted for approximately 90 percent of the country's fixed line market. It currently controls 49 percent of the country's leading mobile operator, GSM Kazakhstan, and 50 percent of another cellular operator, Altel. In 2015, broadband internet speed in Kazakhstan was estimated at 18.41 Mbit/s on average. Liberalization of the
telecommunications Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...
market in 2004 increased competition among the five licensed operators: KazakhTelecom (the former
state monopoly In economics, a government monopoly or public monopoly is a form of coercive monopoly in which a government agency or government corporation is the sole provider of a particular good or service and competition is prohibited by law. It is a monopoly ...
, now with 51 percent state participation), Transtelekom, Kaztranscom, Arna (DUCAT), and Astel. First-tier ISPs with international Internet connections and their own infrastructure are KazakhTelecom, Nursat, Transtelecom, Kaztranscom, Arna, Astel, and TNS Plus. There are approximately 100 second-tier ISPs that purchase Internet traffic from first-tier ISPs. They include: *
Kcell Kcell (KASE: KCEL) is the Cellular Communication Operator in Kazakhstan, part of Kazakhtelecom. The company was founded in 1998 and provides cellular services under the Kcell brand, which is mainly focused on the corporate segment, and Activ, ...
( 3G) * INTELSOFT (
cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...
) * Optinet (cable access) * AlmaTV (cable access) * Beeline (3G, cable) * DigitalTV (
WiMax Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) is a family of wireless broadband communication standards based on the IEEE 802.16 set of standards, which provide physical layer (PHY) and media access control (MAC) options. The WiMA ...
) * Nursat * Sekatel * SputTV (satellite access) * 2Day Telecom (dial-up) Market liberalization has not been completely carried out, as there are restrictions on foreign ownership for fixed-line operators providing
long-distance Long distance or Long-distance may refer to: *Long-distance calling *Long-distance operator *Long-distance relationship * Long-distance train *Long-distance anchor pylon, see dead-end tower Footpaths *Long-distance trail *European long-dista ...
and international services. In addition, KazakhTelecom retains dominance over the telecommunications market, making it difficult for other operators to compete. KazakhTelecom also launched an interactive IP TV service on 11 March 2009 as it worked to maintain its dominance in the fixed-line market. Other leading first-tier ISPs, Nursat and Astel, operate terrestrial and satellite-based infrastructure. There are five mobile operators in the country. Three operators are offering GSM services and two
CDMA Code-division multiple access (CDMA) is a channel access method used by various radio communication technologies. CDMA is an example of multiple access, where several transmitters can send information simultaneously over a single communicatio ...
. The government estimates that 60 percent of the population uses mobile services. One of the largest ISPs, Arna (DUCAT), accused KazakhTelecom of breaking a law regarding the promotion of competition and the limiting of monopolistic activities. Arna claimed that KazakhTelecom used uncertified systems that monitored and interfered with the telecommunications of customers who are using services offered by competing companies. An investigation of the Kazakh government revealed that such systems indeed existed and were used by KazakhTelecom, but no evidence was found to prove KazakhTelecom was intentionally interfering with competitor activities.


Legal and regulatory frameworks

The Kazakh government has exhibited an ambiguous and at times contradictory approach to the Internet. The long-term development strategy of Kazakhstan for 2030 demonstrates the government's strong commitment to create a modern national information infrastructure. The government had announced plans to develop
e-government E-government (known for electronic government) involves utilizing technology devices, such as computers and the Internet, for faster means of delivering public services to citizens and other persons in a country or region. E-government offer ...
as a part of a 2005–2007 program. Since 2008, government officials have been encouraged to create their own personal
blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...
s. At the same time, the government follows a multilevel information security policy, which maintains surveillance of telecommunications and
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...
traffic in the country. The Ministry of Transport and Communications (MTC) is the main policymaker and regulator in the telecommunications market. The Agency for Informatization and Communication (AIC), a central executive body in the IT field, is authorized to implement state policy in telecommunications and information technology development industries, exercise control in these sectors, and issue licenses to every type of telecommunications service. The Security Council (SC), a body chaired by the
president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
, is responsible for drafting decisions and providing assistance to the head of state on issues of defense and
national security National security, or national defence (national defense in American English), is the security and Defence (military), defence of a sovereign state, including its Citizenship, citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of ...
. The SC also prepares a list of Web sites every six months that should be blocked or forbidden from distribution. A 2005 SC decision made it illegal for key national security bodies to connect to the Internet (namely, the Ministries of Emergency Situations, Internal Affairs, and Defense, and the
National Security Committee A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a na ...
). However, despite this prohibition,
ONI An ( ) is a kind of ''yōkai'', demon, orc, ogre, or troll in Japanese folklore. They are believed to live in caves or deep in the mountains or in hell. Oni are known for their superhuman strength and have been associated with powers like th ...
field researchers found evidence that state officials access forbidden Web sites using dial-up accounts and
anonymizer An anonymizer or an anonymous proxy is a tool that attempts to make activity on the Internet untraceable. It is a proxy server computer that acts as an intermediary and privacy shield between a client computer and the rest of the Internet. It acc ...
applications. The security system in Kazakhstan is complex and multi-layered. The Inter-Departmental Commission is charged with coordinating and developing national information infrastructure. The National Security Committee (NSC) monitors presidential, government, and military communications. The Office of the
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
is an authorized state body responsible for the protection of state secrets and maintenance of
information security Information security is the practice of protecting information by mitigating information risks. It is part of information risk management. It typically involves preventing or reducing the probability of unauthorized or inappropriate access to data ...
. Broadly defined, a 'state secret' encompasses various government policies as well as information about the president's private life, health, and financial affairs. The NSC has issued a general license to the private Agency on Information Security to establish and organize facilities for
cryptographic Cryptography, or cryptology (from "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or '' -logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adversarial behavior. More gen ...
protection of information, as well as to formulate proposals on information security to state organizations, corporate clients, banks, and other large commercial companies. The Kazakh Ministry of Internal Affairs operates Department ‘‘K’’, which bears the functions of its counterpart in the Russian Federation. This department is tasked with investigating and prosecuting
cybercrime Cybercrime encompasses a wide range of criminal activities that are carried out using digital devices and/or Computer network, networks. It has been variously defined as "a crime committed on a computer network, especially the Internet"; Cyberc ...
and
cyberattack A cyberattack (or cyber attack) occurs when there is an unauthorized action against computer infrastructure that compromises the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of its content. The rising dependence on increasingly complex and inte ...
s. At present, ISPs are required to prohibit their customers from disseminating
pornographic Pornography (colloquially called porn or porno) is sexually suggestive material, such as a picture, video, text, or audio, intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolved from cave paintings ...
,
extremist Extremism is "the quality or state of being extreme" or "the advocacy of extreme measures or views". The term is primarily used in a political or religious sense to refer to an ideology that is considered (by the speaker or by some implied shar ...
, or
terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...
materials or any other information that is not in accordance with the country’s laws. Kazakh officials are also considering additional laws to further regulate the Kazakh Internet. One draft law presently under consideration would attach liability to owners of Web sites hosting weblogs and forums, as well as users of chat rooms. The draft law equates Internet sites to
media outlet Mass media include the diverse arrays of media (communication), media that reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit information electronically via media such as films, radio, recorded music, or television. Digi ...
s and applies similar regulations with respect to content. The authors of the law justified tighter oversight by the need to fight cybercrime and provide greater accountability for Internet users. The Kazakhstan Association of IT Companies is the officially recognized administrator of the ‘‘.kz’’
domain A domain is a geographic area controlled by a single person or organization. Domain may also refer to: Law and human geography * Demesne, in English common law and other Medieval European contexts, lands directly managed by their holder rather ...
. It is registered as an NGO, but is 80% government-owned. The rules of registration and management of the ‘‘.kz’’ domain were issued by the State Agency on Informatization and Communication of the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2005. In recent years, the cost for registering and maintaining a domain name have significantly decreased, thereby boosting the development of the Kazakh portion of the Internet. Registrations are subject to strict regulation. Applications may be denied if the server on which they are located resides outside Kazakhstan. Even though the primary legislation guarantees
freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...
and prohibits
censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...
, the government often resorts to various legal mechanisms to suppress ‘‘inappropriate’’ information or to ensure that domain names used by opposition groups are frozen or withdrawn. As a result, very few political parties in Kazakhstan use the Internet, and few opposition or illegal parties have an online presence (at least within the ‘‘.kz’’ domain). Some 300 legislative acts expressly or implicitly control the ICT environment. All telecommunications operators are legally obliged, as part of their licensing requirements, to connect their channels to a public network controlled by KazakhTelecom. The Billing Center of Telecommunication Traffic, established by the government in 1999, helps monitor the activity of private companies and strengthens the monopolist position of KazakhTelecom in the IT sphere. In the past, some telecommunications operators circumvented such regulations by using
VoIP Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also known as IP telephony, is a set of technologies used primarily for voice communication sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. VoIP enables voice calls to be transmitted as ...
for their interregional and international traffic, but the imposition of VoIP
telephony Telephony ( ) is the field of technology involving the development, application, and deployment of telecommunications services for the purpose of electronic transmission of voice, fax, or data, between distant parties. The history of telephony is ...
tariff A tariff or import tax is a duty (tax), duty imposed by a national Government, government, customs territory, or supranational union on imports of goods and is paid by the importer. Exceptionally, an export tax may be levied on exports of goods ...
s eliminated this option.


Internet shutdowns

Internet shutdowns have occurred periodically, according to cybersecurity analysts, during periods of political unrest. In 2018 when events held by the political opposition were live streamed on social media, the Kazakh government throttled needed bandwidth for such uses; and in 2019 it repeated its efforts to restrict social media when opposition leaders protested the government's plans for victory celebrations of the end of the Second World War. In February 2021, in the wake of a
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
resolution on human rights in the country and domestic protests over the release of political prisoners, several sources reported "internet shutdown . . . in . . . Almaty and Nur-Sultan," two of the largest cities in the country. Western media reported on partial and total shutdowns of the internet and telephone system in Almaty, the country's largest city, during country-wide political unrest during January 2022. Further reports indicated the "internet was shut down across the country." One source reported partial shutdowns of phone and internet on 4 January with a "country-wide blackout . . . affecting all connectivity in the country" on 5 January. On 6 January it was reported that "WhatsApp, Signal, and Telegram messaging services
ere Ere or ERE may refer to: * ''Environmental and Resource Economics'', a peer-reviewed academic journal * ERE Informatique, one of the first French video game companies * Ere language, an Austronesian language * Ebi Ere (born 1981), American-Nigeria ...
offline" while local internet operators including Kaz Telecom, Beeline, and Kcell had "shut down their services." Also on 6 January, the UK government issued a statement specifically calling for "resumption of internet services and for the Kazakh authorities to respect their commitments to freedom of speech and expression." The Economist magazine describes such shutdowns as a government strategy "to quell protests and disrupt elections" while critics argue it "violates human rights." Data from internet analyst Cloudflare detailed the abrupt shutdown of the country's internet shortly after 10:30 UTC on 5 January, subsequently reporting on 7 January "The nationwide Internet shutdown in Kazakhstan is now in its third day." Internet services were briefly activated during public speeches by Kazakh President
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev Kassym-Jomart Kemeluly Tokayev (born 17 May 1953) is a Kazakhstani politician and diplomat who has served as the second president of Kazakhstan since 2019. He previously served as Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, Prime Minister from 1999 to 2002 ...
, including his appeal to Russia to send in Russian troops to "protect the state." A partial internet restoration on 7 January "started at around 02:50 UTC (08:50 local time) and it ended three hours later (05:50 UTC)." On 10 January Reuters reported "state-imposed internet shutdown in Kazakhstan entered a sixth day." One consequence of the January 2022 Kazakh internet shutdown was a measurable blow to the cryptocurrency world. Kazakhstan emerged as the world's second largest miner of
Bitcoin Bitcoin (abbreviation: BTC; Currency symbol, sign: ₿) is the first Decentralized application, decentralized cryptocurrency. Based on a free-market ideology, bitcoin was invented in 2008 when an unknown entity published a white paper under ...
(after the United States) following China's total crackdown on cryptocurrencies in May—September 2021. So-called cryptominers moved from China to Kazakhstan, drawn by the country's ample coal-fired electric power. Consequently, Kazakhstan doubled its national share of global cryptocurrency mining muscle, known as the "hash rate", from roughly 9 percent to 18 percent. Western media reported that global "hash rate" shrank significantly when the Kazakh government shut off the country's internet in early January 2022. "Within the hours of the outage, bitcoin’s computational power sank," wrote The Guardian. "A few hours into the outage . . . a full 12% of Bitcoin's worldwide computational power had vanished wing tosharp declines for a number of producers with operations in Kazakhstan. The hash rates for AntPool, Poolin and Binance Pool all fell between 12% and 16%," observed Forbes.


Provisions for propagation of false information and spreading rumors

The new Criminal Code of Kazakhstan, which took effect on January 1, 2015, prohibits the “deliberate propagation of false information,” sometimes labeled as “spreading rumors.” According to the Jamestown Foundation, "the dissemination of such unsubstantiated information in the media and on
social network A social network is a social structure consisting of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), networks of Dyad (sociology), dyadic ties, and other Social relation, social interactions between actors. The social network per ...
s may be subject to fines as high as $54,000 or, as an alternative, community work or a jail sentence up to five years." This measure was adopted in the wake of a run on two banks in February 2014, which was fueled by
text message Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile phones, tablet computers, smartwatches, desktop computer, des ...
s on mobile phones. These communications resulted in the
bailout A bailout is the provision of financial help to a corporation or country which otherwise would be on the brink of bankruptcy. A bailout differs from the term ''bail-in'' (coined in 2010) under which the bondholders or depositors of global syst ...
of Kaspi Bank by the
National Bank of Kazakhstan The National Bank of Kazakhstan is the central bank of Kazakhstan. History The National Bank of Kazakhstan was established on the basis of the Kazakh Republican Bank of the State Bank of the USSR (since 1990, the State Bank of the Kazakh SSR; ...
. However, it was also invoked in the case of a young man who spread false information about the death of Prime Minister
Serik Akhmetov Serik Nyghmetuly Akhmetov (; born 25 June 1958) was a Prime Minister of Kazakhstan from 2012 to 2014. He served as the Minister of Defense from April to October 2014. Akhmetov served for a time as first deputy akim of Astana before being appointe ...
in January 2015.


Surveillance and filtering

The government has established systems to monitor and filter Internet traffic. Since the traffic of all first-tier ISPs goes through KazakhTelecom's channels, surveillance and filtering is centralized. The ONI suspects that state officials informally ask KazakhTelecom to filter certain content. KazakhTelecom, along with some Russian companies, has openly signed an agreement to provide filtering, censorship, and surveillance on the basis of Security Council resolutions. There are several recorded cases of journalists and Web site owners that have been prosecuted under broad media and criminal provisions. Twenty-one opposition and independent media sites have been permanently suspended, allegedly for providing links to publications concerning corruption among senior state officers and the president. In 2004, the chairs of the National Security Committee and the Agency for Informatization and Communications approved rules providing for mechanisms for monitoring telecommunications operators and networks. These rules prescribe full collaboration and information sharing between the government agencies. This system is similar to that of the Russian
SORM The System for Operative Investigative Activities (SORM; ) is the technical specification for lawful interception interfaces of telecommunications and telephone networks operating in Russia. The current form of the specification enables the target ...
, introduced to monitor activities of users and any related information. The rules oblige ISPs to register and maintain electronic records of customer Internet activity. Providers are required to install special software and hardware equipment in order to create and store records for a specified amount of time, including log-in times, connection types, transmitted and received traffic between parties of the connection, identification numbers of sessions, duration of time spent online,
IP address An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label such as that is assigned to a device connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. IP addresses serve two main functions: network interface i ...
of the user, and speed of data receipt and
transmission Transmission or transmit may refer to: Science and technology * Power transmission ** Electric power transmission ** Transmission (mechanical device), technology that allows controlled application of power *** Automatic transmission *** Manual tra ...
. The OpenNet Initiative conducted testing on two main ISPs: KazakhTelecom and Nursat. KazakhTelecom blocks opposition groups’ Web sites, regional media sites that carry political content, and selected
social networking sites A social networking service (SNS), or social networking site, is a type of online social media platform which people use to build social networks or social relationships with other people who share similar personal or career content, interests ...
. A number of proxy sites providing anonymous access to the Internet have also been blocked. The ONI suspects that filtering practices in Kazakhstan are evolving and are performed at the network backbone by KazakhTelecom, which filters traffic it provides to downstream operators. Consequently, Kazakh ISPs may unknowingly receive pre-filtered content. At the same time, not all incoming and outgoing traffic passes through KazakhTelecom’s centralized network, resulting in inconsistent patterns of blocking. The majority of Internet users are on ‘‘edge’’ networks, such as Internet cafés and corporate networks. Kazakhstan companies apply filtering mechanisms at the user level to prevent employees from accessing
pornography Pornography (colloquially called porn or porno) is Sexual suggestiveness, sexually suggestive material, such as a picture, video, text, or audio, intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolv ...
, music, film, and dating Web sites. However, ONI testing found that Kazakhstan does not block any pornographic content or sites related to drug and alcohol use. Since 2016, the Kazakh government has blocked the social media website
Tumblr Tumblr (pronounced "tumbler") is a microblogging and Social networking service, social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and is owned by American company Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content ...
because of religious extremism and pornography.


Root certificate man-in-the middle attack

In 2015, the
government of Kazakhstan The Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan (, ''Qazaqstan Respublikasynyñ Ükımetı'') is the collegial body that exercises Executive branch, executive power in the Kazakhstan, Republic of Kazakhstan; The government heads the system of execu ...
created a "national security certificate" which would have allowed a
man-in-the-middle attack In cryptography and computer security, a man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack, or on-path attack, is a cyberattack where the attacker secretly relays and possibly alters the communications between two parties who believe that they are directly communi ...
on
HTTPS Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is an extension of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). It uses encryption for secure communication over a computer network, and is widely used on the Internet. In HTTPS, the communication protoc ...
traffic from Internet users in
Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...
. Such an attack would involve requiring all Internet users to install a
root certificate In cryptography and computer security, a root certificate is a public key certificate that identifies a root certificate authority (CA). Root certificates are self-signed (and it is possible for a certificate to have multiple trust paths, say if ...
controlled by the Kazakh government into all their devices, allowing it to intercept, decrypt, and re-encrypt any traffic passing through systems it controlled. However, ISPs and banks opposed the change and the certificate was not deployed at the time. In July 2019, the Kazakh government moved forward with their original plans and required ISPs to force their users to install a root certificate issued by the government.


Terminology

People in Kazakhstan use the term "Kaznet" to refer to Internet space originating from and related to Kazakhstan. Similarly, they use the terms "Uznet", "Kirnet"/"Kegnet", and "Runet" are used to refer to Uzbek, Kyrgyz, and Russian internet spaces, respectively.


Modern cybersecurity landscape

In early 2025, Kazakhstan experienced a significant rise in
cyberattacks A cyberattack (or cyber attack) occurs when there is an unauthorized action against computer infrastructure that compromises the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of its content. The rising dependence on increasingly complex and inte ...
, with the number of information security incidents recorded doubling compared to the same period in 2024. Between January and May 2025, approximately 30,000 cyberattacks were reported, up from 15,000 the previous year. The most notable increase was in
botnet A botnet is a group of Internet-connected devices, each of which runs one or more Internet bot, bots. Botnets can be used to perform distributed denial-of-service attack, distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, steal data, send Spamming, sp ...
-related activities, which surged from 1,700 incidents in the first quarter of 2024 to 17,600 in 2025. These attacks included spam mailings,
password cracking In cryptanalysis and computer security, password cracking is the process of guessing passwords protecting a computer system. A common approach (brute-force attack) is to repeatedly try guesses for the password and to check them against an availab ...
, and remote system intrusions.
Phishing Phishing is a form of social engineering and a scam where attackers deceive people into revealing sensitive information or installing malware such as viruses, worms, adware, or ransomware. Phishing attacks have become increasingly sophisticate ...
attempts also saw a notable rise, increasing by 37.2% to 2,000 cases. Meanwhile, other types of cyber threats such as
computer viruses A computer virus is a type of malware that, when executed, replicates itself by modifying other computer programs and inserting its own code into those programs. If this replication succeeds, the affected areas are then said to be "infected" wit ...
, worms, and Trojans declined by 17.9%, with 7,900 incidents reported.
Distributed denial-of-service In computing, a denial-of-service attack (DoS attack) is a cyberattack in which the perpetrator seeks to make a machine or network resource unavailable to its intended users by temporarily or indefinitely disrupting services of a host conne ...
(DDoS) attacks dropped to 23 incidents, compared to 30 in the previous year. Despite these challenges, Kazakhstan's IT sector continued to grow, with the value of services in computer programming and related fields reaching 1.5 trillion tenge ($2.9 billion) in 2024, marking a 36.3% increase from 2023.
Almaty Almaty, formerly Alma-Ata, is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population exceeding two million residents within its metropolitan area. Located in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains ...
and
Astana Astana is the capital city of Kazakhstan. With a population of 1,423,726 within the city limits, it is the second-largest in the country after Almaty, which had been the capital until 1997. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim (river), Ishim ...
accounted for the bulk of the sector's activity, with 90.2% of IT services provided in these two cities.


Milestones

* On 19 September 1994, .kz was officially registered as a top-level domain * On 24 December 1996, E. Alexander Lyakhov, the unofficial "father of the Kazakhstan Internet", founded the informational- educational portal "Lyakhov.kz – Large Encyclopedia of Kaznet" * In 1997, Kazakhstan's site received its first international award at the international «Business Website of 1997» competition. * In 1997, Lyahovy launched a project directory rubricator of Kazakh web resources, "The whole WWW Kazakhstan" * In 1998, the Kazakh part of the Internet appeared in the first
online store Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile app. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of the ...
and catalog goods site, Guide Park * In June 1998, the first site in the Kazakh language appeared: Physico-Technical Institute MN-AN RK * Since September 1998, Kazakhstan has offered continuous broadcasting over the Internet via broadcast transmissions from an Almaty broadcasting hub via STC Almatytelekom using
RealAudio RealAudio, also spelled Real Audio, is a proprietary audio format developed by RealNetworks and first released in April 1995. It uses a variety of audio codecs, ranging from low-bitrate formats that can be used over dialup modems, to high-fidelit ...
. * In October 1998, the electronic catalogue KazGU, listing educational resources, is launched. * In 1999, the IANA created the Kazakh Network Information Center as an administrator of country code top-level domain .kz * On April 6, 2004, the Kazakhstan Association of IT Companies (KAITK) was created. * 2004 - the domain .kz was transferred to the control of the Agency of Kazakhstan for Informatization and Communication. * On October 1, 2005, the management and regulation of the domain .kz was assumed by two organizations: the Kazakh Network Information Centre (KazNIC) in a de facto capacity, and the Kazakhstan Association of IT-companies
de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' (; ; ) describes practices that are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. The phrase is often used in contrast with '' de facto'' ('from fa ...
, which runs the development of the national domain. * On March 12, 2010, as a result of reorganization of the Agency of Kazakhstan for Informatization and Communication and the Ministry of Culture and Information, the Ministry of Communications and Information was established and granted the power of regulating the Internet. * In May 2011,
Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...
, which operates google.kz, was notified by the Ministry of Communications and Information in Kazakhstan that all .kz domain names had to operate on servers physically located within Kazakh borders. In response to the requirement, Google decided to redirect google.kz visitors to google.com; this change meant search results were no longer customized for Kazakhstan. * In June 2011,
Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...
relaunched google.kz. The Kazakh authorities issued new guidance stating that the order that all .kz domains must operate on servers physically located within Kazakh borders no longer applied to previously registered domains.


See also

*
Communications in Kazakhstan Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not only transmit ...
* Kazakhstan man-in-the-middle attack


References

{{Kazakhstan topics