After Instagram Ban, VPN Demand Soared In Russia

demand for VPNsTools to circumvent restrictions on Internetin Russia after the state blocked access to major social media platforms in Russia. goalAnd the Facebook And the Instagramdata from a monitoring company showed.

Access to Instagram in Russia cut from Monday (14) In response to Meta’s decision last week to allow people in Ukraine Spreading messages like “Death to the Russian invaders”.

On the eve of the Instagram ban, the demand for VPN (Virtual Private Networks), which cipher data and anonymizing a person’s location, rose 2088% above average daily demand in mid-February, according to monitoring firm Top10VPN.

The demand for VPNs was already increasing in the region as Russian and Ukrainian websites fell victim to cyber attacks. In the context of war. Russia banned several VPN options last year, and failed to ban them entirely, as part of a broader crackdown that critics see as stifling internet freedom.

Also according to data analysis from Top10VPN, there are at least 203 news and 97 cryptocurrency exchange sites currently blocked in Russia.

How does a VPN work? Is it illegal?

A VPN (Virtual Private Network) creates a direct channel between an access point (in this case, a computer or cell phone) and the destination address (a website, application, or database, for example), so it was first adopted by companies looking for enterprise and secure networks.

The connection is no longer public – it passes through the servers of Internet operators or companies like google– and make it private, using the servers of a VPN company.

It would be like trying to get from point A to point Z by car, but the road directly connecting those two points is closed. So, you use other roads, go through other points and “bounce” the blockage of the main road.

Paid VPN services are usually very secure. In addition to storing your data, it guarantees a connection speed higher than that obtained when using the Internet in a traditional way.

In the case of free VPNs, the problem is that these other points through which your connection data passes are usually very weak. Intermediate points along the way can be used to steal data, for example, says Jefferson Castanheira, a network infrastructure specialist.

VPN services themselves are not illegal. But depending on the type of use, you can make infractions. For example, accessing content that is prohibited in Brazil via flowmay be sufficient to have legal consequences.

* With information from Reuters and a report by Rodrigo Lara.