"They'll press the same button." How Russians will be left without anonymity on the Internet
Russia is blocking the Tor infrastructure - proxy server systems for people who want to remain anonymous on the Internet. Gazeta.Ru asked the experts whether a complete blocking of the project in the Russian Federation is possible, what Russians use Tor for and whether blocking threatens with disruptions in the operation of the Runet. techqueer
From two flanks
Information security specialist, technical expert of
Roskomsvoboda and Privacy Accelerator Vadim Losev told Gazeta.Ru that attempts
are being made to restrict Tor's work in several directions at once. At a
minimum, not only resources for accessing the browser of the same name are
blocked, but also the Tor networks themselves, which provide access to the
Internet.
We started blocking the Tor Project website, where you can
download the official Tor browser. Since at least December 3, many users in
Russia have had problems - they have been blocked from accessing the Tor
network, ”the specialist noted.Tor is better than VPNs in many ways, he said, but that
makes it attractive not only to fans of anonymity.
“Tor gives you much more anonymity than VPNs because Tor is
controlled by different operators. There is no one in this network who would
understand at the same time who the user is and where he is going, ”Losev
explained.
The blocking of the Tor network was carried out using
technical means of countering threats (TSPU), chief analyst of RAEC (Russian
Association for Electronic Communications) Karen Kazaryan said in an interview
with Gazeta.Ru .
“Initially, the list of known public nodes of the Tor
network was blocked through the TSPU. This is a fairly simple action. There was
no opposition to the protocol and I suspect that there will be no, ”he added.
However, Ghazaryan did not rule out that with increasing
pressure on Tor, "anything can happen" up to and including failures
in the work of the Runet.
Losev suggested that the current blocking of the network may
be related to the actions of Roskomnadzor , but so far there is no confirmation
of this.
“Judging by what is being blocked mainly by mobile
operators, it looks like TSPU. This assumption seems to be true. But what is
happening exactly, we cannot say yet. Need a response from Roskomnadzor or
research. So far, there is neither one nor the other, ”he added.
Losev believes that if other providers "press the same
button that cellular operators pressed in early December," then access to
Tor will gradually begin to disappear throughout Russia.
Anonymity advocates
Losev noted that attempts to block Tor by the state can be
much more active than in the case of VPN services, since the likelihood of
accidental damage is reduced. “VPN is a technology that is used a lot in
business and banking. Therefore, it is necessary to block it more carefully so
as not to break anything, ”he explained.
According to the expert, Tor users consider the value of
online anonymity itself, as there are fewer and fewer opportunities to receive
and search for information when no one writes down what you are looking for and
watching.
“There are people who prefer to make inquiries for medical
diagnoses through Tor, as they would not want search engines to associate such
phrases with their profiles. Or on other personal and confidential matters, not
to break the law, ”Losev said.
Ghazaryan said that the Tor browser has three basic uses.
The first is anonymous access to resources, including those that involve
anonymous use. These are ordinary sites that are not part of the darknet.
The second is the darknet itself and everything connected with
it. The third is specific testing of resources (pentest). They are carried out
by specialists in the field of information security.
According to the expert, the current blocking is only a
complication for those who are less tech-savvy. “Probably those who use it for
the darknet will calmly find ways to bypass it,” he said.
Iterative process
According to Vadim Losev, it is impossible to completely
block access to Tor on the Internet.
“This is a distributed network. It won't work 100%, it just
won't work. Will it work 80%? Maybe yes. Now the equipment for blocking has
become quite perfect and manufacturers are engaged in this task. One of these
is to block Tor for the majority, ”the expert noted.