167 VPN Services and Thousands of Resources Blocked by Roskomnadzor

In the framework of the protection of Runet from threats, Roskomnadzor has taken action against several VPN services, postal services, and other resources. The director of the Center for Monitoring and Management of the Communications Network (TsMU SSOP), Sergey Khutorstsev, shared the scale of these measures at the Spectr-2023 forum in Sochi.

Khutorstsev stated that Roskomnadzor has limited access to 167 VPN services, over 590 thousand information resources, more than 200 postal services, over 2 thousand phishing sites, over 84 applications, and more than 20 malware distribution centers. The aim of these measures is to counteract threats to the safety and sustainability of Runet.

Furthermore, more than 17.5 thousand IP addresses were added to the “White List” and removed from the filtering list.

The formation of SSSOP CDU, which stands for the Center for Monitoring and Management of the Communications Network, was made possible through the incorporation of the “Main Radio Frequency Center” under the supervision of Roskomnadzor. This was done to implement the Law on the Sovereign Runet and centrally manage a unified network using technical means to counteract threats.

In a statement, the head of Roskomnadzor, Andrei Lipov, assured that the regulator promptly resolves any emerging issues with VPN services within three hours. Lipov also emphasized that mass problems with VPN from companies using them in their work are not commonly reported.

Prior to these actions, on October 7, the Ministry of Construction had warned Russian organizations using VPN services about potential difficulties due to the blocking of prohibited resources. It was advised to contact Roskomnadzor or the relevant industry authorities for assistance. If the issue persisted, organizations could reach out to the Ministry of Digital Development for further support.