“To increase the level of efficiency of restricting access to VPN blocking bypass tools to 96%” is the goal of Roskomnadzor, which is allocating 59 billion rubles for the project.
The explanation states that the federal project “Cybersecurity Infrastructure” (part of the national project “Data Economy and Digital Transformation of the State”) includes updating the technical means of countering threats (TMTS) that are installed on the networks of telecom operators and allow you to block Internet resources in RuNet, as well as ways to bypass blocking.
Having reviewed the document, Forbes reports that it is planned to modernize previously installed TSPU and install new ones from 2025 to 2030. TSPU is a software and hardware complex, that is, a computer with an application installed on it, says a technical expert of the Roskomsvoboda project:
“As part of the modernization, RKN will acquire new servers and software; the servers will be faster and will be installed where they were not before, and the software will work more efficiently.”
According to the expert, as a result of the TSPU will block and “slow down” unwanted resources more effectively. Roskomnadzor admits that at the moment it cannot block modern VPN services. It needs an update to its technical capabilities, says cyber lawyer Stanislav Seleznev, who collaborates with the Network Freedoms project:
“There are assumptions, based on measurements by technical specialists, that the current version of TSPU can detect and block signatures of several types of VPN protocols (OpenVPN, IKEv2, WireGuard). However, in addition to these, there are dozens of protocols and services that TSPU cannot currently track.”
Kira Taran, an expert at the DRC law firm, believes: The upgrade may make VPN services less effective at accessing restricted content. And the general director of Comfortel, Dmitry Petrov, notes, quotes The Moscow Times:
“It will be a war of sword and shield, cats and mice. Technically, it is possible to block 90% of VPN service traffic. At the same time, those who want to access blocked resources will technically still have this opportunity, but it will become more difficult and expensive.”
Modernization of the system for blocking objectionable content is necessary, first of all, in order to import-substitute TSPU equipment and allow suppliers to earn money, and secondly, in order to block VPN traffic more effectively, noted a Forbes source in one of the telecom operators.
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