VPNs pose threat to information control in Russia – UK intelligence

11.08.2023 00:33

Ukrinform

Over the last week, the Russian authorities have likely increased their ongoing efforts to disrupt Russian citizens' access to Virtual Private Networks (VPNs).

The UK Defense Ministry said this in an intelligence update posted to Twitter, Ukrinform reports.

Reports suggest many of the most popular VPNs have become unusable in some regions of Russia, the update said.

"VPNs likely represent the greatest single vulnerability within the Russian state's attempts at pervasive domestic information control," the UK Defense Ministry said.

VPNs allow users to obfuscate their access to the internet, to maintain privacy and to bypass state-imposed censorship. VPNs are hugely popular in Russia, despite being illegal since 2017.

They allow users to access objective international news sources, including about the war in Ukraine.

"As well as increased technical disruption, the Russian state has also launched a public information campaign, attempting to scare citizens into avoiding VPNs by claiming they put their personal data at risk," UK intelligence said.