There’s nothing like this even in China.” Business, to its own detriment, has joined the fight of the special...

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📶📛 “There’s nothing like this even in China.” Business, to its own detriment, has joined the security services’ fight against VPNs, but people still have ways to bypass blocks. An IT expert explains.

A new turn in Russia’s internet bans: this week, when a VPN is turned on, key services stopped opening, from taxis and delivery to store and hospital websites. “MO” discussed with RKS Global cybersecurity expert Sarkis DARBINYAN what the point of the security services’ new tactic is and how to preserve access to the free internet.

❓What is happening with VPNs now

A fundamentally new stage of pressure has begun: “the task is to wean people off VPNs by any means and make using them inconvenient.” At the demand of the Ministry of Digital Development and the FSB, the platforms themselves are forced to carry out “delegated repressive functions”: they disconnect users or deny access to services when a VPN is enabled. This is “much more effective than previous measures,” because the fight is being moved to the level of the services themselves, not just telecom operators.

❓How exactly VPNs are now being detected

The problem is no longer only blocking, but also surveillance: apps are starting to “scan users’ devices and collect data on VPN infrastructure”. This data is passed to regulators and used for further centralized blocking through TSPU systems. “All this information is accumulated and makes it possible to track down and choke VPNs even more effectively.” As a result, the system becomes self-learning: the more users try to bypass blocks, the faster those methods are cut off.

❓Which VPNs still work

Most protocols have already been blocked, and “effectively only Amnesia, WireGuard and VLESS remain.” Even they work unstably: infrastructure periodically “goes down,” so users are advised to have several VPN services at the same time. “A lot of VPNs are dropping off,” the expert notes, adding that resilience right now is temporary and depends on the specific configuration and load.

❓How to bypass restrictions under the new conditions

Users will have to change their habits. Among the basic solutions are using several tools (Tor, Psiphon), as well as technical workarounds: fully closing Russian apps before turning on a VPN, rather than simply minimizing them, and using split tunneling — dividing traffic between the VPN and a regular connection.

❓How to preserve both regular communications and access to Russian services

It is better to have two phones — one for Russian (“sovereign”) apps, the other for ordinary internet life. If that is not possible, the environment inside the device can be separated, for example through separate Android profiles. However, individual apps may “monitor other services and the use of messengers,” which allows censorship to be tightened in a targeted way. “Gradually, this is exactly what is happening in Russia,” Darbinyan concludes.

Read more about the security services’ fight against the internet and the consequences for business on the website.

We wrote about advice for users here; some of it is in the image for this post.