The task is not just to block individual services, but to make internet restrictions...”

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“The task is not just to block individual services, but to make internet restrictions the new normal.” The blockings have stopped looking chaotic; everything is now subordinated to the FSB’s single logic, an IT expert said

Access to Gosuslugi, banking apps, and other Russian services abroad has started breaking down en masse: systems are mistaking foreign traffic for VPNs and blocking logins. Inside Russia itself, Telegram’s availability is falling sharply — the share of failed requests to its domains has reached almost 95%. Citizens are downloading alternative messengers en masse: KakaoTalk’s audience has grown by 82%, while Turkey’s BiP has doubled.

Cybersecurity expert Denis ALSHANOV told “MO” what the point of the new stage in the cleanup of Runet is and how to deal with it

❓What internet shutdowns and the fight against VPNs mean

This is no longer about tests, but about a “finally adopted decision.” It is especially telling that the FSB has joined the issue: this means that the Ministry of Digital Development, Roskomnadzor, and other agencies have apparently realized they cannot cope on their own and decided to “smear absolutely everyone in the process of killing VPNs”. The logic here is twofold: on the one hand, to blur responsibility between agencies and platforms, and on the other, to make life with a VPN as unpleasant as possible, so that people get the feeling that “we don’t need the internet.”

❓Which VPNs are still working now

The situation remains fluid. Sometimes even ordinary commercial VPNs work — the ones that do not hide where their servers are located. At the same time, services that were originally designed to bypass blockings also continue to work, although they constantly have to “reissue configs” and change settings. They are in “constant motion,” but still continue to hold on. In other words, it is possible to find a working option; it is just that now it may break more often and require constant reconfiguration.

❓How the authorities block VPNs in general — selectively or everything at once

At first they proceeded quite primitively — “in alphabetical order,” starting with the most popular services and those that were actively advertised. Then they began pretending they knew how to detect VPNs by protocol, although, as the expert says, this looked “rather funny,” because even long-obsolete technologies were being named. Now the tactics have shifted: they are looking for points where servers are located and trying to use TSPU to track traffic patterns resembling VPNs. But something else has turned out to work much better: when services themselves, such as Yandex, Ozon, or Wildberries, see a VPN on the device and simply do not let the user in.

❓Are VPN and mobile service blockings one strategy

Until recently, this looked like chaotic actions by different services that “all want to curry favor, all want to show results.” But now that it has become clear the process is deeper — the FSB has joined in — it already looks like a single construction. Its point is: “let’s tighten the screws as much as possible and find a balance where everything is tightened, but people more or less continue to live.” In other words, the task is not just to block individual services, but to make internet restrictions the new normal.

❓What users should do right now

First of all, check their own devices. Alshanov recommends installing tools such as bye-bye DPI or GoodbyeDPI, if you have the skills. If services start writing “turn off your VPN,” you need to complain to support and record such cases: right now it is important to force platforms at least to limit such checks. And one more key thing is to check the permissions you have given to apps and websites. “Why, for example, do many services need your geolocation?” the expert asks. The less unnecessary access apps have, the fewer opportunities they have to understand exactly how you are connecting.

Read about the family of the main organizer of the blockings, FSB General Serov, here