Security News > 2021 > December > Russia Blocks Tor Privacy Service in Latest Censorship Move

Russia has stepped up its censorship efforts in the country by fully banning access to the Tor web anonymity service, coinciding with the ban of six virtual private network operators, as the government continues to control the internet and crackdown on attempts to circumvent locally imposed web restrictions.

Russia accounts for 15% of all Tor users, with more than 310,000 daily users, second only to the U.S. Tor, short for The Onion Router, enables users to automatically encrypt and reroute their web requests through a network of Tor relays for anonymizing network traffic, as well as help bypass censorship and protect their identities from the internet service providers and the websites they visit.

Confirming the blockade, the Tor Project maintainers said, "The Russian government has officially blocked our main website in Russia," adding, "Since December 1st, some Internet providers in Russia have started to block access to Tor." The nonprofit organization has responded by creating a mirror site that is still reachable in the country.

"As this instance of censorship limits direct access to our website, malicious actors could start phishing users with fake Tor Browsers or spreading disinformation about Tor," the Tor Project said.

Tor is not the only entity to have come under the scrutiny of Russia's Internet censors.

This encrypted mode of communication effectively shields the destination information from the network provider, while both the second relay - which decrypts the name of the requested website and connects the user to the site - and the website itself are prevented from identifying the user, creating a simplified version of Tor.

News URL

https://thehackernews.com/2021/12/russia-blocks-tor-privacy-service-in.html