Russia's media regulator Roskomnadzor attacks VPN services with cyberattacks

One of the largest VPN services, Amnezia VPN, has been nearly unusable for several days following a massive DDoS attack. According to the developers, the attack is attributed to Russia's media regulator Roskomnadzor, which is known for internet censorship.

Russia's federal media regulator Roskomnadzor has begun not only blocking VPN services but actively degrading them through cyberattacks. Amnezia VPN, one of the largest such services, has been nearly unusable for several consecutive days due to a massive DDoS attack against its infrastructure.

Attack makes switching between servers impossible

According to the service's developers, the attack has made it impossible to switch between servers, affecting both Amnezia Free and Premium users. This means that people who use the service to access censored sites in Russia have been left without an effective tool.

The developers of Amnezia VPN have assessed that the attack is indeed the work of Roskomnadzor — the Russian authority responsible for implementing internet restrictions in the country. Until now, Roskomnadzor has primarily used blocking and DNS filtering to restrict citizens' access to foreign websites.

New tactic: blocking replaced by direct attack

Whereas Roskomnadzor previously attempted to simply block VPN services and keep citizens away from using them, it now appears that a direct attack tactic has been deployed, making the service completely unusable even for those who already have it installed. This represents a significant shift in Russia's internet censorship.