Roskomnadzor and Putin's crackown on the internet in Russia

[Copernicus]

 Roskomnadzor (Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media) is the Russian state organization for censorship of the media and internet in the Russian Federation. It blacklists websites (e.g. see Russia Tried to Shut Down Telegram. Websites Were Collateral Damage.) It has recently tried to shut down the app known as Telegram. That has caused what the Times calls "collateral damage" to other web sites and services. This happened, because Telegram tried to keep ahead of the blockage of its IP addresses by switching to new ones. In response, Roskomnadzor blocked larger swaths of IP addresses, affecting many millions of users. Roskomnadzor is also threatening to block Facebook, Google, and other web services. This is causing a lot of controversy in Russia.

I am an occasional player in a popular online game called  Eve Online, which has a large number of Russian players. Here is how the Roskomnadzor drama is affecting their business (which is headquartered in Iceland): ПРОБЛЕМЫ С ПОДКЛЮЧЕНИЕМ К ИГРЕ НА ТЕРРИТОРИИ РФ (Problems with connection to the game in the territory of the RF--scroll down for the English version). Eve's recommended solution is that users resort to a VPN tunnel, but I have read that Roskomnadzor is looking at that angle, as well.

The activities of Roskomnadzor will have little impact on us, since we have few members who post from Russia. However, this behavior is further evidence of the downward spiral of democracy in Russia. I have some Facebook friends who may disappear as a result. It is a sad situation for Russians.

Here is a report from Russia on the situation (Use Google translate for English): Роскомнадзор заблокировал около 5 млн IP-адресов (Roskomnadzor blocked about 5 million IP addresses).

 

[Copernicus]

It has now been 7 days since Roskomnadzor blocked the messenger app Telegram for not handing over encryption keys to the government. The government censorship agency has cut off millions of IP addresses, which has generated reports from all over Russia. Google was not complying with a requirement to block Telegram addresses, so it has now been blocked. Since Telegram keeps dodging Roskomnadzor by switching to new IP addresses, the government agency has been playing whack-a-mole.

Here is a Google-translate excerpt from Novaya Gazeta: Роскомнадзор заблокировал Google за использование мессенджером Telegram его IP-адресов (Roskomnadzor blocked Google for using its Telegram's IP address)

Messages about the blocking of Google.com began to arrive at night. According to the website of Downdetector, most of the complaints came from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Krasnoyarsk and Izhevsk.

The first about the failure of access to the site due to locks Roskomnadzor reported in the telegram channel specialist on cyber security Alexander Litreev. According to the information, the general director of the Diphost provider Philip Kulin, the agency blocked about 63 IP-addresses.

Malfunctions in the operation of many sites and services began after April 16 Roskomnadzor began to block the Telegram messenger for refusing to provide the FSB with keys for encryption from users' correspondence. Together with the Telegram servers, the departments contributed about 18 million IP addresses of Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Digital Ocean to the forbidden sites registry, which the messenger used to bypass the locks.

In this case, Telegram itself continues to function. The founder of the messenger Pavel Durov assured that Telegram will take all possible measures to circumvent the restrictions. On April 22, Telegram invited Russian users to launch paper airplanes out of the windows to support free Internet, which is timed to the seventh day of blocking the messenger in Russia.

 

[braces_for_impact]

Off topic, but I always liked the look of EVE, but the learning curve seems scary.

 

[Copernicus]

Off topic, but I always liked the look of EVE, but the learning curve seems scary.

Actually, I don't know what will happen to the game, if Russia actually blocks their IP addresses. It is very popular among Russians, who play a lot of online games, so its revenue base is severely threatened by IP blocking. OTOH, Roskomnadzor is pissing off a lot of ordinary people, especially in isolated areas, who depend on this kind of online recreation.

You are right about the learning curve, but Eve Online a very good tutorial program. You can actually play the game for free while you come up to speed enough to decide whether it is worth the bother. Its graphics are very impressive, but they've been under continuous development since 2003.

 

[barbos]

They are not blocking it yet. They put a bunch of google IPs which were used as proxies into database but telegram still works. They also put google in there too, still works for me, Maybe it's not blocked at the FSB office, I am not sure
There were reports of some disruptions of different unrelated services. From a technical standpoint Roskomnadzor are going to lose. Telegram can always make and give them keys but then distribute an app to encrypt messaging on top of that. Cynics say it's one giant PR action on the part of telegram.

 

[Copernicus]

They are not blocking it yet. They put a bunch of google IPs which were used as proxies into database but telegram still works. They also put google in there too, still works for me, Maybe it's not blocked at the FSB office, I am not sure
There were reports of some disruptions of different unrelated services. From a technical standpoint Roskomnadzor are going to lose. Telegram can always make and give them keys but then distribute an app to encrypt messaging on top of that. Cynics say it's one giant PR action on the part of telegram.

Thanks, barbos. It's good to have your perspective on this, regardless of our other disagreements. I am very interested in how this struggle between ordinary users of the internet and the Russian government is going to play out in the end. I hope that none of this comes to interfere with your ability to post on this board.

 

[barbos]

They are not blocking it yet. They put a bunch of google IPs which were used as proxies into database but telegram still works. They also put google in there too, still works for me, Maybe it's not blocked at the FSB office, I am not sure
There were reports of some disruptions of different unrelated services. From a technical standpoint Roskomnadzor are going to lose. Telegram can always make and give them keys but then distribute an app to encrypt messaging on top of that. Cynics say it's one giant PR action on the part of telegram.

Thanks, barbos. It's good to have your perspective on this, regardless of our other disagreements. I am very interested in how this struggle between ordinary users of the internet and the Russian government is going to play out in the end. I hope that none of this comes to interfere with your ability to post on this board.

If youtube gets banned, young people will revolt and start voting. Right now Putin's base are people retired or close to retiring, they never miss elections.

 

[Copernicus]

They are not blocking it yet. They put a bunch of google IPs which were used as proxies into database but telegram still works. They also put google in there too, still works for me, Maybe it's not blocked at the FSB office, I am not sure
There were reports of some disruptions of different unrelated services. From a technical standpoint Roskomnadzor are going to lose. Telegram can always make and give them keys but then distribute an app to encrypt messaging on top of that. Cynics say it's one giant PR action on the part of telegram.

Thanks, barbos. It's good to have your perspective on this, regardless of our other disagreements. I am very interested in how this struggle between ordinary users of the internet and the Russian government is going to play out in the end. I hope that none of this comes to interfere with your ability to post on this board.

If youtube gets banned, young people will revolt and start voting. Right now Putin's base are people retired or close to retiring, they never miss elections.

Same demographic here with respect to Trump supporters. I am one of the exceptions. Most of the people I went to high school with are strong Trumpistas.

 

[barbos]

If youtube gets banned, young people will revolt and start voting. Right now Putin's base are people retired or close to retiring, they never miss elections.

Same demographic here with respect to Trump supporters. I am one of the exceptions. Most of the people I went to high school with are strong Trumpistas.

Well, Putins base has an excuse having lived most of their lives in Soviet Union. They are very grumpy at any criticism of that time.

 

[barbos]

Read an article about Telegram. Apparently they are not entirely honest in their claims about their encryption stuff. There are in essence master keys which they can hand over to FSB. It all looks like a show to me. FSB is trying to create an impression of Telegram security without actually trying to ban it, while behind doors they have these keys already.

 

[Copernicus]

Read an article about Telegram. Apparently they are not entirely honest in their claims about their encryption stuff. There are in essence master keys which they can hand over to FSB. It all looks like a show to me. FSB is trying to create an impression of Telegram security without actually trying to ban it, while behind doors they have these keys already.

Then why would the FSB bother to play whack-a-mole with all of those IP addresses? What would explain their behavior?

 

[barbos]

Read an article about Telegram. Apparently they are not entirely honest in their claims about their encryption stuff. There are in essence master keys which they can hand over to FSB. It all looks like a show to me. FSB is trying to create an impression of Telegram security without actually trying to ban it, while behind doors they have these keys already.

Then why would the FSB bother to play whack-a-mole with all of those IP addresses? What would explain their behavior?

Because VPNs are the real problem for them. They do not appear to ban telegram, you can still use it without VPN. My point is, telegram is not as secure as they claim to be, they can certainly read messages if they want to, not all at the same time though.
Of course it could be case of collective bureaucratic stupidity, where things happen because they happened to be be happening.

 

[Copernicus]

Read an article about Telegram. Apparently they are not entirely honest in their claims about their encryption stuff. There are in essence master keys which they can hand over to FSB. It all looks like a show to me. FSB is trying to create an impression of Telegram security without actually trying to ban it, while behind doors they have these keys already.

Then why would the FSB bother to play whack-a-mole with all of those IP addresses? What would explain their behavior?

Because VPNs are the real problem for them. They do not appear to ban telegram, you can still use it without VPN. My point is, telegram is not as secure as they claim to be, they can certainly read messages if they want to, not all at the same time though.
Of course it could be case of collective bureaucratic stupidity, where things happen because they happened to be be happening.

Barbos, I don't know whether you are using a VPN, and I'm not really interested in that. However, I do think that everything written here by you and me is both recorded and stored in a database that the FSB can mine at their leisure, regardless of whether or not you are using a VPN. I also think that they can crack any encryption conventionally used by most apps, if they are sufficiently motivated. Same for our NSA. However, unless there is some reason why they are interested in monitoring either of us, it really isn't worth the effort. Neither of us represent much of a threat to those agencies. So what we say here just ends up in a haystack of data that can be used for whatever use they have for it.

The thing is that it is expensive and time-consuming to crack encrypted communications, so a lot of countries require that encrypted platforms such as Whatsapp supply government security agencies with encryption keys. It isn't just Russia and China. That is true of countries like France, as well. The reason that they want those keys is that it makes it easy for them to monitor encrypted communications, and that can be very useful. It isn't even just about catching terrorists. Governments, even those of allies, spy on corporations for the purpose of capturing industrial secrets. They spy on friendly governments to gain advance information on policies.

So, what I'm saying here is that I don't think that the FSB has those keys from Telegram. It wants them for the sake of convenience, but it can crack the encryption, if it is motivated to do so. This campaign is probably a legitimate attempt by the FSB to assert its authority, and Telegram is resisting on principle. The result is that the Russian government is now taking ham-fisted measures to suppress them, and a lot of innocent bystanders are suffering as a result.

 

[barbos]

When I said "they can certainly read messages" I meant Telegram can read their users messages, not the FSB.
Brute force attack on public key encryption (which is what they all use) is too expensive for FSB, and even for NSA. And would be bad guys can use private key encryption brute force attack on which is simply hopeless.

I agree, FSB just wants what other big countries have. But problem with russian law enforcement is corruption and lack of oversight. If they get all the info they want it will be put on sale immediately. At one point they seriously circulated an idea of circumventing all https encryption. That was pretty ridiculous.