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Russia Admits To Blocking Millions of IP Addresses (sfgate.com)
It turns out, the Russian government, in its quest to block Telegram, accidentally shut down several other services as well. From a report: The chief of the Russian communications watchdog acknowledged Wednesday that millions of unrelated IP addresses have been frozen in a so-far futile attempt to block a popular messaging app. Telegram, the messaging app that was ordered to be blocked last week, was still available to users in Russia despite authorities' frantic attempts to hit it by blocking other services. The row erupted after Telegram, which was developed by Russian entrepreneur Pavel Durov, refused to hand its encryption keys to the intelligence agencies. The Russian government insists it needs them to pre-empt extremist attacks but Telegram dismissed the request as a breach of privacy. Alexander Zharov, chief of the Federal Communications Agency, said in an interview with the Izvestia daily published Wednesday that Russia is blocking 18 networks that are used by Amazon and Google and which host sites that they believe Telegram is using to circumvent the ban.
In post soviet Russia Telegram stops internet
The timing correlates with a drop in attacks on our servers.
Block away Vlad, block away.
few montht ago when ukraine blocked some most outrageous russian propaganda sites , russian mass media was telling people that such blocking is âoenot democraticâ and pointless. At the same time they shown on state TV how to circumvent blocking with a use of vpn. :D Well , russian government is so russian, they are doing a job of ruining their country very well..
well I am following russian government trends - they often talk about having their own âoeindependentâ internet and are organizing own version of DNS for BRICS countries. I would not be surprised if they will indeed disconnect russia from internet - during soviet times USSR had their own computer WANs...
I'd be more impressed if Telegram encrypted ALL communications, not as just a user selectable option for mobile users. Hell, it's not even on by default.
I only use the desktop client, and there's no option to turn on encryption.
No, they don't.
If I were to punch someone, I will actually try to block their punch back. Self interests usually overrides the abstract notion of Hypocrisy.
It doesn't mean I have some moral high ground, just that I have some physical advantage. Life isn't fair. Balance and Ying/Yang are just abstract notions. Perhaps the repercussions will bite them in the future. But they will immediately react to their current self interest.
Russia doesn't care they messed with an outer society via the internet, it is their win. Retaliation will be tried to be stopped. If you are going to retaliate, you need to know this and expect it. It isn't like D&D where each country has a list of advantages and disadvantages that balance out.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
How different from the USA's Jeffersonian democracy, where every 4 years the voters get to choose between a psychotic murderous criminal and a ridiculous uneducated imbecile.
Neither of whom would have any power or discretion if they are elected, since the real owners sit in darkness.
I am sure that there are many other solipsists out there.
Nice speculation, could even be true
But proof? I doubt it.
It's why I chide those among us liberals convinced that Donny had the vote tabulation servers hacked.
Could be true, but is it? Really IS IT TRUE ought be our byword
Signal is already 100% open source and is now widely used by both corporations and governments. The world doesn't need yet another secure messaging app when most people don't use any as it is. Focus on developing things that don't exist, and getting people to use the things that do.
If Russia is blocking Telegram on the grounds that they won't give out encryption keys to the government .... what to think of the fact that Whatsapp isn't blocked?
Music to my ears!
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
We don't need no stinking First Amendment! Vlad knows what we should be permitted to see!
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
Usually conspiracies are way more intricate than the reality. Even spies like to KISS.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Wouldn't it be nice if they did? And I mean completely. That way you could easily identify Russian spammers: It's the ones that use the internet from Russia.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
With that kind of tactics against extremists, the Russian government *are* extremists. The defense is making more damage than the threat.
That's the big hackers we're afraid of? For real? You sure they're working for the same government that can't even get a single app blocked?
As I recall, several of those stories about Russian government hackers indicated that they weren't particularly sophisticated - which is one reason they've been relatively easy to identify.
But then Nigerian 419 scammers generally weren't sophisticated either, and they still managed to trick a lot of people into giving them money.
#DeleteChrome
They can get an orangeutan elected president but they can't shut up the 7th most used chat app?
Heads must roll.
The sad truth is that if the USA blocked most non official/commercial Russian and Chinese IP addresses, we would see a big drop on piracy, hacking and political trolling/manipulation.
And why not? they are already doing it with anyone they don't like.
Symmetric communication and open exchange between nations will probably come to be seen as an earned privilege. Those that systematically and officially abuse it should have that privilege removed.
QQ, blocking the signal is harrrrrrd. Ha.
Normally the remarks are "users will still tunnel to it" but it's a good laugh that they're still upright out in the open. And I hope it stays that way, if only as a reminder that decentralization means a resistance to being killed.
This sounds like a great service. How can I get them to add my IP addresses to their blocking list? I'm blocking them on my end right now, but it would simplify my iptables config if they could just be cut off at the source.
Russia understands PRISM and knows who the NSA and GCHQ enters another nation.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
So, you assume that all Russians are spammers, right?
No. I assume all Russian spammers are Russians.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.