Russia VPN crackdown persists as authorities launch new campaign
The Kremlin doubles down in its battle against VPNs
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Russian authorities have long been battling againstvirtual private networkservices and their usage. Now, the Kremlin seems to have gone the extra mile by launching an anti-Russia VPNscampaign to back up its ongoing crackdown.
AVPNis security software that helps users boost online privacy and bypass censorship. Despite this, Russia’s internet watchdog Roskomnadzor warns how these services could increase the risk of having personal data compromised instead.
Russia’s anti-VPN campaign
“VPN services can give users an erroneous idea of their own anonymity on the Internet. However, foreign owners of such services have access to all information that Russian users transmit through them,” wrote Roskomnadzor in a statement released on April 10, the Russian news agencyInterfax reported.
The infamous internet regulator went on to explain the supposed risks of users' personal data, like financial information and passwords, becoming the target of hackers looking to use these details for “fraudulent purposes, blackmail and other illegal actions directed against the users themselves or their environment.”
At the same time, a series of videos warning about the dangers of using VPN apps have also been circulating on Russian social media networks.
New encrypted email service banned in Russia>Discover why over half of the world’s population suffered internet disruptions in 2022>Our pick of the most secure VPN providers around right now
These are created by government-linked technology firm Regional Public Organization Center for Internet Technologies (ROCIT), which is also responsible for delivering advice on piracy and other internet-related issues.
“In pursuit of viewing content on banned social networks, think about whether it’s worth it,” saysa video sharedon Russian social network VKontakte,The Moscow Times reported.
Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter
Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed!
VPN usage has soared in Russiafollowing the conflict in Ukraine started as a means to keep accessing blocked news outlets and foreign social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.
The Kremlin’s censorship crusade started way before, though. Roskomnadzor has, in fact, been filling a centralized internet blacklist since 2012 with URLs, domain names, and IP addresses deemed illegal.
Many of these were actually VPN provider sites, which later decided to pull their services out of the country completely forrejecting the new government requirements.
More than 100,000 resources were blocked in 2022 alone, though, compared to around 7,000 during the previous year.
Looking at all the efforts that Russia has put tobeef up its censorship machinesince the invasion of Ukraine, this looks like the latest attempt to spread disinformation and keep curbing citizens' freedom of speech.
Chiara is a multimedia journalist committed to covering stories to help promote the rights and denounce the abuses of the digital side of life—wherever cybersecurity, markets and politics tangle up.She mainly writes news, interviews and analysis on data privacy, online censorship, digital rights, cybercrime, and security software, with a special focus on VPNs, for TechRadar Pro, TechRadar and Tom’s Guide. Got a story, tip-off or something tech-interesting to say? Reach out to chiara.castro@futurenet.com
3 reasons why PIA fell in our best VPN rankings
Is it still worth using Proton VPN Free?
Arcane season 2 confirms the hit series isn’t just one of the best Netflix shows ever made – it’s an animated legend that’ll stand the test of time
