Problems with IPSec and IKEv2, which are used by most VPN services, are currently being reported. Despite the lack of official confirmation, the media and experts agree that Russian authorities are testing a full VPN blockade.

what is known

• According to information from the analytical agency Global Check, a project to help circumvent blockades, Global Check IPsec and IKEv2 suddenly stopped working in some parts of Russia. The shutdown also affected the L2TP protocol.
• Problems were observed in the western part of the country – in the Krasnodar Krai, the Rostov region and Siberia.
• In some cases, the signal does not even pass between the Russian server and the client.
• The problem is that IPSec and IKEv2 in fact, it is the foundation of the vast majority of VPN services worldwide.
• The unavailability of these protocols means, in principle, that the VPN cannot be used – and almost all at the same time, indiscriminately.
• This is also a blow to the corporate segment – many companies are collaborating using these protocols.

Interestingly, even after such massive blocking of various sources and censorship of huge amounts of information, some Russians online continue to justify their rules by saying that the failure was actually a deliberate intervention by foreign companies to harm Russian users. Others try to convince them that the country is testing a complete shutdown of VPN services.

Authorities have yet to comment on what happened, so it’s impossible to say exactly who is behind it. Meanwhile, many corporate network administrators using the protocol are now looking for solutions to overcome the blockade.