Number of VPN users in Russia last year according to Platforma grew up It increased by 37% compared to 2022. Also a study by the Regional Public Center for Internet Technologies (ROCIT) showed41.5% of Russians think such applications are unsafe.
According to this another study ROCIT, VPN services may collect information about the user’s location, payment information, information about the person’s device, IP address, and more. Such applications collect, among other things, statistical and analytical data. The most unsafe for users are VPN services under American jurisdiction.
Also Zecurion experts warned The Russians say that setting up a VPN service requires connecting to external servers using various network protocols. This can be dangerous as scammers can use vulnerabilities to steal user data. And experts from the Central Bank of the Russian Federation recommend Disable VPN when making payments and receiving financial services online.
Safety first
In Russia, special attention is paid to the security of online users, including the protection of their personal data. Therefore, Roskomnadzor has already developed criteria for blocking sites containing information about ways to access resources prohibited in Russia. And in Russia from March 1 of this year Will come into force Prohibition of popularization of VPN services.
Also in Russia valid An important document dated July 27, 2006 No. 149-FZ “On information, information technologies and information protection.” In 2017, this federal law was supplemented with Article 15.8, which states that programs that provide access to resources blocked in Russia are prohibited. Article added.
In addition, the Federal Law of the Russian Federation No. 152-FZ “On Personal Data” is also in force in Russia. HE setsIt is not possible to collect, process and use personal data without the consent of the owner,
Lawyer Efim Kazantsev, expert of the educational platform Moscow Digital School, believes that using a VPN service can indeed carry certain risks for the user, and therefore at least basic rules of digital hygiene must be observed.
“First of all, you should not use the VPN service constantly. When a VPN service is used, all data sent and received passes through the servers of such a service; This means that the service owner can theoretically analyze this data for his own purposes. The expert noted that in the most harmless cases, this data would be an analysis for marketing purposes, with subsequent sale to various marketing systems that show personalized ads to users.
Kazantsev reminded that there were already reports in the media that users’ passwords and even money were stolen from their accounts in banking applications after using VPN services. Therefore, he recommends using the VPN service as little as possible and avoiding its use when working in banking applications and other applications that contain sensitive data (passwords, account access codes, etc.).
“Second, you should not use the first VPN service you come across. Before pressing the coveted button, it is worth spending at least a few minutes to study what kind of service it is, whether there are any user complaints about it, which company is behind this service, what they write about it on the Internet. Using these simple rules will save you from many potential problems. “As for the legal side of the issue, Russia has considerably developed legislation on the protection of users’ personal data,” added the expert.
He noted that Russia has a separate and rather strict law on the protection of personal data, which establishes strict rules on the use of personal data. The lawyer also added that the Administrative Offenses Code provides for quite high fines for violation of these rules. “You should remember that even the strictest Russian legislation will not work if you are using the VPN service of an unnamed offshore company registered in the British Virgin Islands. Therefore, follow the rules of digital hygiene and be careful with your personal data,” Kazantsev added.
As Anton Nemkin, a member of the Committee on Information Policy, Information Technologies and Communications of the State Duma of Russia, emphasizes, free VPN services, hundreds of examples of which can be found in application stores, in 98% of cases pose a hidden threat to users’ personal data.
“Yes, they all promise privacy and anonymity, but this is just a marketing tactic by malicious developers of VPN services. Instead, tens of millions of records containing confidential information are leaked to the black market, where they are purchased by scammers to further attack users. “Our country attaches special importance to the security of personal data,” he said.
Therefore, he reminded that Russia already has laws aimed at protecting online users, and a number of amendments to the legislation are being prepared to be adopted. He also added that the ban on the dissemination of VPN services on the Internet will begin to be implemented in Russia as of March 1, 2024. According to him, this measure also aims to ensure the security of citizens on the Internet and protect their personal data.
“And using VPN services in general brings with it many inconveniences. For example, the device quickly heats up and slows down, Internet speed decreases, other applications work poorly or do not open at all. Moreover, VPN services themselves are, first of all, a guide to blocked resources, whose main task is to spread subversive agents, fraudulent traps and frauds on the network,” said Nemkin.
In his opinion, all this can negatively affect the psyche of both adults and children. “Therefore, I strongly recommend that you limit its use yourself, without waiting for a mass blocking of VPN services. “In addition to all the measures taken today at the state level, it is the duty of each of us to ensure our online security,” the parliamentarian emphasized.