On October 3, the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ held an educational event at the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University) on the structure of global networks, DNS architecture, and modern methods of safeguarding digital space. The occasion for the gathering was the annual celebration of Russian Internet Day, observed on September 30.
A key segment of the event was a lecture by Vadim Mikhailov, Infrastructure Consultant at the Coordination Center. First-year students from three digital faculties and programs – Information Security, Artificial Intelligence, and Cybernetics in the Humanities – were presented with a detailed overview of internet infrastructure and the ecosystem of AI-driven solutions designed to protect both the infrastructure itself and its users.
Vadim began his presentation with an essential topic – the hierarchy and structure of the domain name system.
“We tend to perceive the internet as something abstract, yet every website corresponds to a real address – a unique number known as an IP address. However, for ease of use, the domain name system was created, allowing users to navigate effortlessly among billions of pages using familiar names like mail.ru or yandex.ru,” he explained.
The discussion then turned to the internationalization of address space: today, second-level and even top-level domains permit the use of Unicode characters, enabling website addresses to be written in native languages and facilitating access to information for citizens of different countries. A relevant example is the .РФ domain, which has allowed millions of Russians to create websites with easily readable addresses in their native language.
Within this subtopic, Vadim paid special attention to the Поддерживаю.РФ project, which fosters a Russian-language internet environment and encourages the creation of websites and email addresses in Cyrillic. Students learned that the project includes an extensive database of materials to help users understand the intricacies of configuring and operating the national segment of the internet.
The next phase of the lecture delved into the technical aspects of managing the .RU and .РФ zones. Vadim outlined the organizational structure of domain name administration, based on the Triple-R model: Registry – Registrar – Registrant (domain name administrator). Each participant in the process has distinct responsibilities and plays a role in ensuring the reliability and security of the domain space.
Students showed particular interest in modern cybersecurity tools powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning. The session covered mechanisms for analyzing user and device behavior, intrusion and fraud prevention systems, and solutions for combating DNS abuse – all aimed at detecting and preventing fraudulent activity online. Methods for identifying suspicious domain names at the moment of registration were also presented. Modern technologies for analyzing hosting and registrar reputation, as well as textual and graphical content, allow for identifying potential threats in advance and minimizing harm.
All participants received a commemorative Troika transport card from the 30 Years of Runet limited edition series as a gift for Russian Internet Day. Meanwhile, those eager to test their luck and win additional prizes from the Explore the Internet & Govern It! and Поддерживаю.РФ projects participated in a quiz led by Viktoria Bunchuk, Head of Social Projects at the Coordination Center. The questions covered not only the lecture’s subject matter but also broader themes related to internet history, digital literacy, and the functioning of digital services.
