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In case anyone wondered how to potentially get around this…
- Pay for a server in another country that gives you SSH access
- Create SSH SOCKS tunnel:
ssh -N -D 8008 your-server-ip - Open your browser and set the SOCKS server to
localhost:8008(in Chromium/Firefox you can search for this in Settings)
So, that’s definitely better than nothing, but your browser isn’t the only thing – though these days, it is a very important thing – that talks to the Internet. If, for example, you’re using a lemmy client to read this, I’d bet that it’s good odds that it doesn’t have SOCKS support.
Though I wouldn’t be surprised if someone has made VPN software that intercepts connections and acts as a proxy SOCKS client, which would make it work more like a traditional VPN if you can reach a remote SOCKS server, though maybe with a performance hit.
googles
Yeah, okay, looks like stunnel can do this on Linux. So it’s a thing.
You don’t need a 100% solution, though, to have a pretty big impact on society. Combine technical barriers with it just being easier to not think about what’s going on outside, maybe some chilling effects from legally going after people who do start doing things that you don’t like (viewing websites, spreading information, etc), and you can control people’s information environment a lot. Make using circumvention solutions illegal – okay, maybe you can bypass their system if you don’t get caught, but do you want to risk it? Make creating or spreading circumvention solutions really illegal. Do you want to risk getting in a lot of trouble so that random other person can get unrestricted or unmonitored Internet access?
On that note, I was reading about the way North Korea does it in an article from someone who got out of North Korea. That is about as close as it gets to a 100% solution. Only a few thousand people are authorized to get Internet access. You need to apply to use the Internet with a couple of days lead time. Each pair of computers has a “librarian” monitoring what the Internet user on each side is doing, and every five minutes or so the computer will halt with whatever you were doing on the screen and require fingerprint re-authorization from the “librarian” to continue. Users are not allowed to view pages in Korean, just English and Chinese (I assume because most information out there that you’d have to go outside North Korea to get access to is likely available in either English or Chinese).
That pretty much screws North Korea in terms of access to information, is a costly solution, but if you place an absolute priority on control of the information environment, North Korea does prove that it’s possible to take a society there.
North Korea does prove that it’s possible to take a society there.
I don’t think NK took themselves there, they were already there when the internet was invented. Easier to limit access to few people when you have draconian measures in place when access becomes possible.
Having a society that already widely has access to one that has extremely limited access is a lot more difficult.
This is a good point that many don’t think about. Even if you could somehow drop hardware and free starlink into North Korea it wouldn’t even matter because the citizens never grew up on internet culture. No one would be able to figure out what to do with it by the time they got caught.
This is actually pretty interesting, thanks for sharing. Although i live in a third world country that doesnt care about anything at all including piracy, but this tunneling thing looks pretty handy
Couldn’t you also just set the VPN to use port 443?
I’m not 100%, but I think you could set this up for free with an Oracle AlwaysFree tier VM.
(Boo Oracle, yes I know. Still very handy.)
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It’s a custom protocol that uses SSL/TLS for key exchange and such, so it can be detected. It’s actually causing huge problems for many large Russian companies, as it’s common to use those protocols for remote access, work, etc.
As mentioned in the article you need something like “Shadowsocks” to avoid protocl blocking, since it fully disguises the traffic as standard SSL/TLS. Which was created for, and is still used to circumvent this type of blocking in “the great firewall of china”.
https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/187649/is-it-possible-to-detect-vpn-in-the-network
tl;dr: You can infer that OpenVPN is used from the key exchange somehow.
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Unless the whole of the inner IP packet is encrypted,
It is, because they’re inside an encrypted stream of data.
The way OpenVPN works is this:
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OpenVPN establishes a TLS connection to the OpenVPN server.
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Your computer’s kernel generates an IP packet.
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OpenVPN sucks that up, shoves it into the TLS connection. That connection is encrypted, so the network provider cannot see inside it, know whether the data is IP packets or anything else, though I suppose maybe traffic analysis might let one classify a connection as probably being a VPN.
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The data in that connection is broken up into IP packets, went to the OpenVPN server.
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The OpenVPN server decrypts the data in the TLS stream, pulls the original IP packets out.
So the original packets are always encrypted when the network sees them. Only the OpenVPN server can see the unencrypted packet you originally sent.
What @raltoid is saying sounds plausible, though I can’t confirm it myself – that OpenVPN is detected by looking at somehing unique in the initial handshake.
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Yes there is a difference between https traffic.
Blocking all encrypted traffic… fantastic suggestion comrade, I’ll forward this on to the Kremlin. Also, you’ve been drafted.
I suppose with “comrade” you are hinting at Soviet customs, but Russia isn’t the USSR and couldn’t be further from being socialist
Is OpenVPN not just SSL traffic?
It’s not, it’s an IPSec VPN by default which runs over UDP. You can run it via TCP and it operates over the same port as HTTPS (443), but it’s not the same protocol and can be differentiated that way.
A way around this would be to run an SSLVPN with a landing page where you log in instead of using an IPSec VPN or a dedicated SSLVPN client.
Is OpenVPN not just SSL traffic?
It’s not, it’s an IPSec VPN by default which runs over UDP. You can run it via TCP and it operates over the same port as HTTPS (443), but it’s not the same protocol and can be differentiated that way.
I think that either I’m misunderstanding what you’re aiming to say, or that this is incorrect.
OpenVPN can run over UDP or TCP, but it’s not IPSec. That’s an entirely separate protocol.
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Theoretically, yes, since there are options other than WG/OVPN available through Smart Protocol, which Alternate Routing leverages.
I live in Russia and I have vps with wireguard vpn in Netherlands. At the current moment it works for me pretty well except the some connection failures two days ago. But they were very short. But I don’t know how long my vps will be accessible with these fucking restrictions.
Can you confirm that it is still working fine on normal home internet but not on cellular data? Have been back to Russia multiple times per year (family reasons) and none vpn ever works on cellular network. Some work at home and places.
My own vpn is to my house in different country. Wireguard. That has always been working over home wifi here (not cellular). Even until now.
It will be blocked soon. Go read here what to do https://habr.com/ru/articles/731608/
But how are their propaganda farms going to be able to pretend they are in your country now?
They still get to operate don’t worry!!
Exemptions that only apply rules to the common people. Maybe device registration with an exception using ipv6 address
Maybe they don’t actually have all those propaganda farms that the dems were crying about, did that thought cross your mind?
Before it was widely reported, Twitter’s geocoding feature showed a ton of Russian-based accounts posing as “Americans” and only discussing politics. Would love to see lemmy be more transparent about accounts posting here too, tbh.
In all honesty, I would expect at least an organized troll farm to use VPNs ending outside Russia.
Random people in Russia might just act directly, but it’s a red flag that’s easy to pretty-inexpensively eliminate.
googles
It sounds like at leastthe Internet Research Agency troll farm used VPNs.
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-43093390
According to court documents, the IRA took several measures to hide its tracks, duping the technology companies who were unaware, or unable, to stop what was filtering through their systems.
The key - and obvious - move was to hide the fact that these posts were coming from Russia. For that, the IRA is said to have used several Virtual Private Networks - VPNs - to route their operations through computers in the US. The operatives allegedly used stolen identities to set up PayPal accounts using real American names.
I’d say you probably want to check my geolocation?
They exist. Inform yourself on the Internet Research Agency, one of Russia’s state sponsored troll farms. ‘Dems’ weren’t crying about it, every rational person who doesn’t want foreign interference and disinformation flooding our spaces is concerned about it. This should not be a partisan issue whatsoever.
Sadly, but we have. There is a big propaganda campaign have been raised for the last 2 years. It was here before but not in a such huge amount.
Maybe, but get fucking real.
annnd another dictatorship box checked off the list… wont be long now
Until what? Until Russia is a dictatorship? That ship sailed a long time ago.
Won’t be long before Putin catches up to Kim Jong Un in the Oppression Olympics
Still wouldn’t be able to catch up with the US, they are gold medalists
Until he stops pretending?
Didn’t he say that’s so sure to be re elected that it doesn’t even need to waste money on useless elections?
Russia is a terrorist state. #SlavaUkraini #ArmUkraineForVictory
I love all my fellow Russians and Ukrainians who rise above the brainwashing that this commenter is demonstrating.
Fuck patriotism and slogans, that’s what politicians want you to do to die for them. All wars would be over in a day if people just realized this as politicians can’t fight their wars without people like this commenter.
Ukraine was invaded bro. Their politicians did exactly nothing to encourage war.
Maybe theirs didn’t, some other countries’ did. And still do.
Russia is less terrorist than Azerbaijan, but the latter isn’t even being sanctioned (and there’s been an ICJ decision against them, but everybody ignores it) for starving out a little country of 120k people right now in a medieval siege, and openly stating that they are doing exactly that.
I don’t think Ukraine has lots of problems. At least the aggressor there is recognized for what it is and the victim is recognized for what it is and armed by half the world.
I don’t think Ukraine deserves any attention, in fact, since in Artsakh they support Azerbaijan. Support of now finally actual genocide happening is what makes me think that.
Russian likes to threaten the world with nukes - nuclear war would inevitably lead to a nuclear holocaust that would cause the near extinction of the human species.
I don’t give a flying fuck about Azerbaijan. Russia is terrorizing the entire species of humanity. Until you’re threatening to wipe out the entire planet, you are not a terrorist on the same level as Russia.
Russian likes to threaten the world with nukes
Tactical nukes usually.
nuclear war would inevitably lead to a nuclear holocaust that would cause the near extinction of the human species.
If you use tactical nukes, then it’s not much more significant than using thermobaric ordnance or cassettes or even chemical weapons or anything else kinda nasty and non-conventional.
It won’t lead to a global thermonuclear war and thus a nuclear holocaust any more than use of sarin in Syria did.
However! If you don’t give a flying fuck about a smaller holocaust then I don’t give one about your bigger one even if it involves me, I just don’t care.
If you don’t give a flying fuck about a smaller holocaust then I don’t give one about your bigger one even if it involves me, I just don’t care.
Sure, Russia threatens the entire human species, but if it doesn’t suit your liberal virtue-signalling for some marginalized minority, then it’s fine with you.
What’s the survival of humanity vs your imaginary liberal internet points.
Sure, Russia threatens the entire human species,
Your life is worth at best as much as any Artsakhi farmer’s life. In fact much less, if by “the entire human species” you mean yourself.
Now, Russia can’t threaten anybody, I’d be surprised if any of those strategic nukes are still operational. I happen to live in Russia and know how things are usually done here. That aside, Russia’s regime consists of thieves and murderers, not some Hollywood fascist hardliners. They care for their lives very much.
but if it doesn’t suit your liberal virtue-signalling for some marginalized minority
At this point I’d actually prefer that somebody nukes the miserable being you are.
And people of Artsakh are very much the majority in their land, however they are besieged and dying from hunger.
But, well, it’s good to know that you care about Ukraine only because of being afraid that, again, somebody nukes you.
Also my ancestors on paternal side happen to be from a certain valley in the province of Tayq, Western Armenia, currently occupied by a certain genocidal NATO country. I won’t buy your bullshit. I’ll care about Ukraine and somebody, again, nuking you personally when enough people care about that, which is never.
The people of Artsakh are also people of the world. Russia is threatening them with extinction too. You don’t actual care about them. You’re a fake and a liar begging for liberal minority points online.
Russia is threatening them in much more material way, with all its deals with Azerbaijan (which would be something sanction-worthy for the latter if it were, I don’t know, Georgia), but it isn’t killing them right now.
You don’t actual care about them.
I very definitely do, my aunt’s husband is from there and a participant of the first war.
You’re a fake and a liar
Judging by your use of the words “liberal” and “minority”, I’d say your opinion on the matter is not worth much, neither are you as a whole.
It won’t lead to a global thermonuclear war and thus a nuclear holocaust any more than use of sarin in Syria did.
You didn’t mention the escalation policy of either of those countries during a war event.
Escalation policies tend to become very elastic when implemented by humans.
They really can get to some limited strategic exchange, but after that point some countries are democratic and that demos which supposedly rules them will tear into pieces everybody preventing the cessation of hostilities, and others are authoritarian, and their authority cares about its lives and well-being the most.
I mean, NATO officials have become much more modest with words about “any attack on NATO territory is an attack on NATO” after a few stray missiles have landed on Polish territory, for example.
Escalation policies tend to become very elastic when implemented by humans.
I’m talking about the Rules of Engagement during wartime. Especially when it comes to the release of nuclear weapons. These rules are very un-elastic.
Each use of nuclear force is responded to by an escalated nuclear force reply. This can keep happening until all the missiles are in the air, flying to their destinations.
I think Ukraine is a western puppet. But that doesn’t mean Russia isn’t also shit.
Ukraine is not “western” puppet, it’s just a big oligarch-dominated part of the ex-USSR.
Say, Transcaucasia was toxic nationalist-bandit-oligarch dominated, with these components being initially almost equally mixed, and to some extent still is.
Russia was oligarch and FSB dominated, until those merged with FSB being on top.
Ukraine was similar, but oligarchs are on top now.
I wholeheartedly agree that Ukraine is better than Russia. It’s just more similar to Russia in the dimension of evil than most here seem to think.
It was not working 2 day on mobile operators, now waiting full shutdown
Is it possible to bypass this block? Say, embedding VPN packets within a different protocol?
I don’t know why some moron downvoted you, but the answer is maybe. For reference, I have always bypassed SSH firewall blocking by sneaking SSH packets within https.
The only way this won’t be possible is if the government enforces installing a certificate to use the internet, so that they can do a man-in-the-middle-attack. I heard this is already being done in Afghanistan.
So sad. More and more we are seeing a world were the powers that be can do anything they want but if you do it it’s (rightfully) malware and illegal.
The vast majority of popular apps and OSes are spyware by any reasonable definition of the term.
For simple web browsing or streaming over https you can use a socks proxy.
For full VPN function you could try something like IPSec or L2TP, as they’re not listed in the protocols Russia is targeting.
Now comes the Great Russian Firewall.
I am pretty confused by the article.
What I’d expected based on what I’ve seen so far was that the Kremlin would not care what protocols are used, just whether the a given VPN provider was in Russia and whether it provided the government with access to monitor traffic in the VPN.
So, use whatever VPN protocol you want to talk to a VPN provider where we can monitor or block traffic by seeing inside the VPN. You don’t get to talk to any VPN providers for which we can’t do that, like ones outside Russia, and the Russian government will do what it can to detect and block such protocols when they pass somewhere outside of Russia.
But that doesn’t seem to fit with what the article says is happening.
The media in Russia reports that the reason behind this is that the country isn’t banning specific VPNs. Instead, it’s putting restrictions on the protocols these services use.
According to appleinsider.ru, the two protocols that are subject to the restrictions are:
- OpenVPN
- WireGuard
A Russian VPN provider, Terona VPN, confirmed the recent restrictions and said its users are reporting difficulties using the service. It’s now preparing to switch to new protocols that are more resistant to blocking.
I don’t see what blocking those protocols internal to Russia buys the Kremlin – if Terona conformed to Russian rules on state access to the VPN, I don’t see how the Kremlin benefits from blocking them.
And I don’t see why Russia would want to permit through other protocols, though maybe there are just the only protocols that they’ve gotten around to blocking.
EDIT: Okay, maybe Terona doesn’t conform to state rules or something and there is whitelisting of VPN providers in Russia actually happening. Looking at their VK page, it looks like Terona’s top selling point is “VPN access to free internet” and they have a bunch of country flags of countries outside of Russia. So maybe Russia is blocking VPN connectivity at the point that it exits Russia, and it’s affecting Teroma users who are trying to use a VPN to access the Internet outside Russia, which would be in line with what I would have expected.
Your edit makes sense, it would be possible to block all VPN traffic but just whitelist traffic from trusted IP addresses (like those in Russia). But I don’t think we have enough info to say for sure that’s what’s happening.
Can someone explain from a technical standpoint how they can block OpenVPN running on port 443? my admittedly limited understanding is that port 443 is the common port for https. If they blocked that port wouldn’t that mean that they would be blocking nearly the entire internet?
I don’t know what they actually do but one possibly is to look for (absence of) the TLS handshake. Or maybe they simply infect all devices on the Chinese market with MITM certificates to be able to decrypt all TLS encrypted traffic. Should be easy to force companies to do that in such a country.
From my understanding, they are most likely just blocking the defualt port of wireguard / openvpn and IPs associated with the VPN servers of VPN providers they dont like.
If they wanted to block VPN traffic over 443 to any IP, they would have to do deep packet inspection, which I would imagine is infeasible for Russia.
Supposedly, the Chinese great firewall does use deep packet inspection, so it is possible to do this at the country level.
You can analyze the traffic, detect common patterns and also detect source of the request. Russian IT specialists are now using very complex solutions to come around the block which work a lot like MITM attacks.
This has been happening intermittently since 2012 or something.
Not wg, cause it wasn’t popular then.
HTTP\HTTPS tunneling etc are not that hard, ya knaw.
Or encrypted GRE, ffs.
Curious if anyone living there has tried Windscribe Stealth protocol?
Couldn’t you just use any server/droplet/AWS instance via SSH to get around this law? Seems much simpler.
If you’re savvy enough, sure. But for the lay person who doesn’t want a clouded view of the world, they likely won’t have the same resources or technical capabilities.
that’s assuming you can get one, which is challenging since most hosting companies don’t/can’t offer services in russia anymore
It’s not without drawback though. SSH tunnel consumes a lot more cpu compared to wireguard. If your vps has a weak cpu, it might not even able to fully saturate a 1gbps connection due to cpu bottleneck on certain ciphers. If you’re using a mobile device, it will drain your battery faster than wireguard.
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True, it’s not like Russian need to use VPN to pirate stuff anyway.
Wait! You got it. We just encapsule https in the bittorrent protocol!
