167 VPN services have been blocked in Russia since 2021 – Kommersant

Director of the Center for Monitoring and Management of the Public Communications Network (CMU SSOP), subordinate to Roskomnadzor, Sergei Khutortsev, said that since 2021, 167 VPN services and 84 applications have been blocked in Russia.

According to Mr. Khutortsev, it was possible to block the services using an automated security system for the Russian Internet segment. He said that the Central Mutual Control Center of the SSOP has established close work with regulators in the field of information security to block malicious sites. “These are phishing resources, and resources that participate in information wars against the Russian Federation, and services for bypassing blocking,” he clarified at the Spectrum industry forum (quoted from TASS).

The director of the Central Medical Center of the SSOP stated that the center covers almost 100% of the traffic of telecom operators. His presentation also states that since 2020, more than 590 thousand information resources have been blocked in the Russian Federation, the agency reports. In 2023, the SSOP Center helped limit access to more than 2 thousand phishing sites and more than 20 malware control and distribution centers, added Mr. Khutortsev.

Previously Roskomnadzor reported about plans to independently block sites that contain information about methods and means of bypassing blocking in Russia. According to AppMagic, in 2022 Russia took second place in the world in terms of VPN downloads. Ministry of Digital Development reportedthat companies that work with VPNs and encounter failures in the operation of such services should contact the RKN to remove the blocking.

Erdni Kagaltynov