Russia Starts Blocking VPN Protocols • Hacker News Board

Re: Russia Starts Blocking VPN Protocols

#61

Post by bombcar » Thu, Aug 10, 2023, 11:50 AM UTC

azangru wrote: post #55

vbezhenar wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My impression was previously that Russia was somewhat of a wild west when it came to piracy and internet restrictions. Your impression was absolutely wrong. Before war, Microsoft and other big western companies along with police hunted companies which tried to use pirate software. So it was not a good idea to use pirate software for company in Russia, at least if you're big enough to be noticed. Ordinary people wer…

> Your impression was absolutely wrong. Before war, Microsoft and other big western companies along with police hunted companies which tried to use pirate software. So it was not a good idea to use pirate software for company in Russia, at least if you're big enough to be noticed. Ordinary people were kind of ignored, AFAIK Didn't they say somewhere that in response to the sanctions imposed early in the war they were…

Since enforcement was at the behest of the behemoths, I dare say they stopped. No need to try to make Microsoft and Disney willing to do business in Russia if they’re banned from doing so.

Re: Russia Starts Blocking VPN Protocols

#62

Post by bombcar » Thu, Aug 10, 2023, 11:52 AM UTC

inrussianow wrote: post #15

nabogh wrote: post #13

I'm a little confused what Russia has to gain from this. My impression was previously that Russia was somewhat of a wild west when it came to piracy and internet restrictions. To make things weirder, the article claims that only mobile networks are affected. I wonder why that is. Is this just the decisions of a handful of telcos and it's being reported as a state-imposed restriction? Edit: also in my opinion, "blocki…

Im in Russia now posting this over on a wireguard vpn, using a landline ISP. So far no problems, havent tried on mobile.

From my days of piercing the great firewall of china, as long as you’re somewhat technically adept AND have access outside somehow AND aren’t currently in the crosshairs it’ll work fine.

Re: Russia Starts Blocking VPN Protocols

#63

Post by TheRoque » Thu, Aug 10, 2023, 11:53 AM UTC

Bluecobra wrote: post #56

gsa wrote: post #14

I have been researching VPN protocols that work in China and found that Xray [0] is the most recommended route to escape the GFW. An ideal VPN setup is one where packets appear as normal https traffic. Some VPN setups take it a step further and proxy the traffic through Cloudflare. Setting all this up is nowhere as easy as Wireguard. Coincidentally, I came across this project on Github earlier today which is an obfus…

If everyone does this wouldn’t that encourage them to try to do carrier grade SSL decryption? I seem to recall that some country is already doing this and to get online you need to trust the state’s CA.

I would be interested to know which country this is

Re: Russia Starts Blocking VPN Protocols

#64

Post by tibbydudeza » Thu, Aug 10, 2023, 11:54 AM UTC

Kretinsky wrote: post #54

tibbydudeza wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not very bright. Was wondering about those friendly fire incidents that keeps cropping up from Russian units - one unit got arty on them by the Ukrainians and then they requested counter-fire but their own side dropped it on them instead.

Or a Ukrainian unit could get access to a Russian telegram account and then send malicious requests.

At least they would use code words but with the NSA supplying intelligence and most new units deployed are full of mobiks , have little hope for them.

Re: Russia Starts Blocking VPN Protocols

#65

Post by lexek » Thu, Aug 10, 2023, 11:56 AM UTC

nabogh wrote: post #13

I'm a little confused what Russia has to gain from this. My impression was previously that Russia was somewhat of a wild west when it came to piracy and internet restrictions. To make things weirder, the article claims that only mobile networks are affected. I wonder why that is. Is this just the decisions of a handful of telcos and it's being reported as a state-imposed restriction? Edit: also in my opinion, "blocki…

>My impression was previously that Russia was somewhat of a wild west when it came to piracy and internet restrictions.

They're still pretty lenient on piracy, which doesn't cancel out the government ever growing desire to control the news/media/social networks space

Re: Russia Starts Blocking VPN Protocols

#66

Post by Avamander » Thu, Aug 10, 2023, 11:57 AM UTC

I hope that someone writes an HTTP/3 layer for SSH and Wireguard.

In theory they could all run on the same port in separate streams and be more difficult to differentiate.

Re: Russia Starts Blocking VPN Protocols

#67

Post by hooby » Thu, Aug 10, 2023, 11:57 AM UTC

nabogh wrote: post #13

I'm a little confused what Russia has to gain from this. My impression was previously that Russia was somewhat of a wild west when it came to piracy and internet restrictions. To make things weirder, the article claims that only mobile networks are affected. I wonder why that is. Is this just the decisions of a handful of telcos and it's being reported as a state-imposed restriction? Edit: also in my opinion, "blocki…

> I'm a little confused what Russia has to gain from this.

People use VPNs to get western news and information through other channels than state-controlled Russian media.

If Russia can block these other channels, then their own propaganda becomes the sole information citizens have access to.

Re: Russia Starts Blocking VPN Protocols

#68

Post by johnbatch » Thu, Aug 10, 2023, 11:58 AM UTC

TheRoque wrote: post #63

Bluecobra wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If everyone does this wouldn’t that encourage them to try to do carrier grade SSL decryption? I seem to recall that some country is already doing this and to get online you need to trust the state’s CA.

I would be interested to know which country this is

Here’s an article about Kazakhstan:

https://www.f5.com/labs/articles/threat-intelligence/kazakhs...

Re: Russia Starts Blocking VPN Protocols

#69

Post by dontdoxxme » Thu, Aug 10, 2023, 12:01 PM UTC

dijit wrote: post #47

romanzubenko wrote: post #42

I set up WireGuard server for my family back in Russia in the first days of the war and since then provided VPN access to a few more families. It’s been a lot more stable than relying on popular VPN providers who get banned one after another. Any advice on alternatives to WireGuard, if Russian gov manages to ban it on protocol level with DPI?

SOCKS5 SSH has been my go-to for years. ssh -D9050 ; point your browser to localhost:9050 and bobs-your-uncle.

That approach, while convenient is not safe. It does not guarantee non-TCP traffic will be proxied. (You can test with a “WebRTC leak tester”.)

Re: Russia Starts Blocking VPN Protocols

#70

Post by amq » Thu, Aug 10, 2023, 12:05 PM UTC

rjsw wrote: post #22

nabogh wrote: post #13

I'm a little confused what Russia has to gain from this. My impression was previously that Russia was somewhat of a wild west when it came to piracy and internet restrictions. To make things weirder, the article claims that only mobile networks are affected. I wonder why that is. Is this just the decisions of a handful of telcos and it's being reported as a state-imposed restriction? Edit: also in my opinion, "blocki…

> I'm a little confused what Russia has to gain from this. Maybe Russia thinks that Ukraine is using the mobile phone network to control drones in Moscow.

How does blocking VPNs prevent this?