Problems with IPSec and IKEv2, which are used by most VPN services, are currently reported. And although there is no official confirmation, the media and experts agree that the Russian authorities are testing a complete blockade of VPN.
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According to information from the analytical agency Global Check, a project to study and assist in bypassing the blockade, in some regions of Russia suddenly stopped working IPsec and IKEv2. The shutdown also affected the L2TP protocol.
Problems have been observed in the western part of the country – Krasnodar Krai, Rostov region, as well as in Siberia.
In some cases, the signal does not even pass between the Russian server and the client.
The problem is that IPSec and IKEv2 are actually the basis for the vast majority of VPN services worldwide.
The unavailability of these protocols means the unavailability of VPN in principle – and almost all at once, indiscriminately.
This is also a blow to the corporate segment – many companies organize joint work using these protocols.
Interestingly, even after so many blockades of various resources and censorship of vast amounts of information, some Russians online continue to justify their rule by saying that the failure was in fact a deliberate intervention by foreign companies to harm Russian users. Others are trying to convince them that the country is testing a complete shutdown of VPN services.
Officials have not yet commented on what is happening, so it is impossible to say exactly who is behind it. Meanwhile, many corporate network administrators using the protocol are now looking for solutions to bypass the blockade.