Russia Admits To Blocking Millions of IP Addresses (sfgate.com) 73
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.
Use Signal (Score:1)
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.
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But it is absolutely in Russia's right to show the world how they can't even get one single insignificant app blocked and make a complete mockery of their whole internet surveillance show. Why take a threat like "we shut you down" serious when they can't even get a phone app under control?
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?
Re: How many... (Score:1)
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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.
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No. I assume all Russian spammers are Russians.
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Usually conspiracies are way more intricate than the reality. Even spies like to KISS.
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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.
Long live ayatolla Vlad (Score:5, Funny)
In post soviet Russia Telegram stops internet
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Someone hand that guy a mod point or two, he at least made me smile today.
Awesome, I hope they block more. (Score:5, Interesting)
The timing correlates with a drop in attacks on our servers.
Block away Vlad, block away.
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I admit that I had already blocked millions of their IP addresses.
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Yep, if you look to be coming from a Russian, Iranian, Chinese, or North Korean netblock, your packets get dropped on the floor.
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I was just blocking anything that sent SPAM or exhibited suspicious network behavior. It wasn't until recently that I happened to notice they were mostly from Russia. Granted, a good amount were from China, too, as well as, for some reason, Verizon cellphones.
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Those are hacked machines already... the real hackers are using other people machines, usually several times/jumps... and they can be everywhere in the world, even in your internal network
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Fun fact, there are several rather large porn / adult sites hosted out of Russia and hide behind CDNs. I don't expect the blocks to last all that long.
There's also the gaming community, though I don't think anyone in NA would care if Russia, China, Korea, etc all lost access. Less screaming, cheating kids.
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The server lag in World of Warcraft seems to have magically evaporated too...
they di (Score:2)
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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.
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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
It's almost as though... (Score:1)
...they don't want foreign entities trying to destroy their society through the internet!
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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 t
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Comment removed (Score:3)
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Here Pavel Durov (Telegram founder) explains why end-to-end encryption is not enabled by default: http://telegra.ph/Why-Isnt-Telegram-End-to-End-Encrypted-by-Default-08-14 [telegra.ph]
Wait a minute... (Score:1)
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Hey look, I think this one is getting smarter!
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"German government to use Trojan spyware to monitor citizens"
http://ll.dw.de/en/german-gove... [ll.dw.de]
"..monitor ongoing chats and conversations."
Different nations have different ideas about what their network users can do and what a gov will do.
"futile attempt to block" (Score:1)
Music to my ears!
Vlad tells us so! (Score:2)
We don't need no stinking First Amendment! Vlad knows what we should be permitted to see!
extremists (Score:1)
With that kind of tactics against extremists, the Russian government *are* extremists. The defense is making more damage than the threat.
Embarassing! (Score:2)
They can get an orangeutan elected president but they can't shut up the 7th most used chat app?
Heads must roll.
The open and egalitarian Internet dream is dead (Score:3)
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.
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In which case you block normal chinese or russian citizens from accessing sites hosted abroad...
Just because you see attacks coming from russia or china, doesn't mean that's where they originated. Chances are the boxes launching the attacks are compromised and someone elsewhere is pulling the strings.
Network security is simply not taken seriously in many countries, they make little or no effort to secure boxes and don't care if they are infected with malware so long as they still barely function. Pirate sof
why do we have comment subjects (Score:2)
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.
Great service (Score:2)
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