Supreme Court in Russia ruled Telegram must provide FSB encryption keys

Stefan Froberg · Apr 17, 2018

If they keep blocking there is soon "Great Firewall of Russia" ....

RockLobster · Apr 17, 2018

Yes but ICQ has changed hands at least twice since then.
Alan Cox made those comments about the original Israeli Mirabilis version, it was then aquired by AOL and then more recently by the Russians.

dogbite · Apr 18, 2018

ICQ is owned by mail.ru which has ties with the establishment. Also mail.ru launched a few months ago their own messaging app called TamTam. It's a kind of Telegram clone (featuring groups, channels, etc) but likely with some govt. surveillance embedded.

Minimalist · Apr 19, 2018

The Kremlin Vs Telegram: What's Really Going On With The Messaging Service In Russia?

Aware that growing numbers of people were evading the blockade through proxies or VPNs, the government agency has begun to stifle all ways of connecting to Telegram, wiping out more than 17 million IP addresses from Google and Amazon’s servers (you can see the number grow in real time here), in the process, while disrupting all types of services from online games to mobile apps or cryptocurrency exchange pages. Roskomnadzor’s attempts to block Telegram amount to a denial of service attack on the Russian internet: many sites and services unrelated to Telegram are now blocked as part of this Soviet-style exercise in censorship. Nevertheless, says Durov, Telegram continues to operate with relative normality and the company has not detected a significant drop in user activity in Russia. A relatively small company has left the Kremlin with egg on its face and highlighting concerns for the future of the internet in Russia.
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/enriqu...going-on-with-the-messaging-service-in-russia

Minimalist · Apr 19, 2018

Microsoft, Apple, Google Asked to Resist Russia’s Telegram Ban

Officials in Kremlin have also requested Microsoft, Google, and Apple to remove Telegram from their app stores, but until now, these companies haven’t yet announced a decision.

The American Civil Liberties Union, a nonprofit civil rights organization, is calling for tech giants to resist Russia’s struggle to censor the Internet and refuse to pull the Telegram app.

“Stand for human rights by ensuring Telegram's access to their platforms and allowing them to change IP addresses without limit,” ACLU said in a message to tech companies.
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http://news.softpedia.com/news/micr...-to-resist-russia-s-telegram-ban-520766.shtml

Minimalist · Apr 24, 2018

Russia’s Telegram Ban Shuts Down Google Services

Google has confirmed its services in Russia are being affected by a ban intended to stop Russians from using communications app Telegram.

The ban has also affected infrastructure providers such as Amazon and other applications that use Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Google infrastructure, such as Twich and Spotify.
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https://www.silicon.co.uk/workspace/russias-telegram-ban-shuts-google-services-231667

mirimir · Apr 24, 2018

Funny Those Telegram devs are making it hard on snooping mother Russia

Minimalist · Apr 28, 2018

This is why Russia's attempts to block Telegram have failed

Russia's attempt to block encrypted messaging app Telegram isn't going too well. In fact, two weeks after Roskomnadzor, its communications regulator, started trying to stop the app being used it's managed to block pretty much everything but Telegram. So why is it proving so tricky?
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http://www.wired.co.uk/article/telegram-in-russia-blocked-web-app-ban-facebook-twitter-google

mirimir · Apr 28, 2018

Google's decision to disable domain fronting could hurt many

guest · May 1, 2018

Amazon Follows Google in Banning "Domain Fronting"
May 1, 2018
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/cloud/amazon-follows-google-in-banning-domain-fronting/

Two of today's biggest cloud service providers are now blocking a technique called "domain fronting" that has been used by websites and applications to avoid government-based censorship, but also by malware to secretly siphon stolen data to covert servers.
The first one to drop support for domain fronting was Google, at the start of April. Tor developers were the first ones to notice that Google App Engine had stopped working with domain-fronted services on April 13.
Amazon follows Google and bans domain fronting as well
But last week, Amazon, too, announced that it would drop support for the same feature.
Domain fronting became popular with malware operations
But despite the technique's use with legitimate apps trying to skirt government-based bans, the domain fronting had also slowly started to become quite popular on the malware scene, where cybercriminals had been using it to disguise the locations of command-and-control (C&C) servers and provide an extra layer of resiliency during law-enforcement takedown efforts.

Based on the statements issued by both Amazon and Google, the banning of domain fronting has nothing to do with Russia's recent attempts to ban Telegram [...]
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mirimir · May 1, 2018

Damn. Domain fronting was a good way to protect Tor bridges. So it goes

But I'm sure that there are workarounds.

Edit: And I see that Signal is also affected

Minimalist · May 2, 2018

Bad news for Signal also. Waiting for Orchid protocol to fill the void.

Minimalist · May 4, 2018

Domain Fronting Is Critical to the Open Web

Tor Browser protects against tracking, surveillance, and censorship, but not everyone around the world has the luxury to connect to use it. By default, Tor Browser makes all of its users look alike. However, it doesn't hide the fact you're connecting to Tor, an open network where anyone can get the list of relays. This network transparency has many benefits, but also has a downside: repressive governments and authorities can simply get the list of Tor relays and block them. We strongly oppose this censorship and believe everyone should have access to information on the open web. That’s why we developed pluggable transports to bypass censorship and connect to the Tor network.
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https://blog.torproject.org/domain-fronting-critical-open-web

mirimir · May 4, 2018

Yes, this is bad for Tor bridges.

But, on the other hand, I can understand how others hosted on Amazon and Google are unhappy when Russia etc block access. They're innocent third parties.

guest · May 6, 2018

Russia Blocks 50 VPNs and Proxy Services Providing Access to Telegram
May 6, 2018
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/ne...-proxy-services-providing-access-to-telegram/

Roskomnadzor, Russia's telecommunications watchdog, blocked last week, on Thursday, May 3, 2018, access to over 50 VPN and proxy services.
Officials did not publish a list of the banned services, according to Russian news agency TASS, who first reported the ban.
VPN and Proxy ban related to Telegram spat
Russian authorities banned the VPN and proxy services after users were utilizing these tools to skirt a nation-wide ban on Telegram, an instant messaging service banned in the country.

Russia banned Telegram on April 13 after the IM service declined to provide access to customer encryption keys to Russian intelligence agency FSB so investigators could decrypt encrypted conversations during investigations.
A warning shot for Viber
Following this move, many users turned to VPNs and proxy services to go around Roskomnadzor's ban on Telegram's original IPs. Many of those VPNs and proxies (also known as "unblockers" in Russia) are now blocked, and accessing Telegram is getting harder and harder inside Russia.
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Minimalist · May 16, 2018

Anonymous defaced Russia govt website against Telegram ban

Anonymous collective hacked and defaced the subdomain of the Russia’s Federal Agency for International Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo) site to protest against the government censorship, with a specific reference to the ban on Telegram.
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https://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/72567/hacktivism/anonymous-hask-russia-site.html

guest · May 28, 2018

Russia Asks Apple to Help Block Telegram
May 28, 2018
https://www.securityweek.com/russia-asks-apple-help-block-telegram

Russia's communications watchdog said Monday it had requested Apple help it block the popular messaging app Telegram which has been banned in the country for refusing to give the security services access to private conversations.

"In order to avoid possible action by Roskomnadzor for violations of the functioning of the above-mentioned Apple Inc. service, we ask you to inform us as soon as possible about your company's further actions to resolve the problematic issue," said the regulator.

Roskomnadzor's director Alexander Zharov later told the Russian news agency Interfax that Apple had one month to reply and declined to speculate about what actions it could possibly take against the US firm if it refused to comply.

Roskomnadzor told the TASS state news agency on Monday that discussions were still underway with Google about implementing the ban.
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Minimalist · Jun 13, 2018

Russian Censorship of Telegram

Internet censors have a new strategy in their bid to block applications and websites: pressuring the large cloud providers that host them. These providers have concerns that are much broader than the targets of censorship efforts, so they have the choice of either standing up to the censors or capitulating in order to maximize their business. Today's Internet largely reflects the dominance of a handful of companies behind the cloud services, search engines and mobile platforms that underpin the technology landscape. This new centralization radically tips the balance between those who want to censor parts of the Internet and those trying to evade censorship. When the profitable answer is for a software giant to acquiesce to censors' demands, how long can Internet freedom last?
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https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2018/06/russian_censors.html

Minimalist · Jun 22, 2018

The Effects of Iran's Telegram Ban

The Center for Human Rights in Iran has released a report outlining the effect's of that country's ban on Telegram, a secure messaging app used by about half of the country.
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https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2018/06/the_effects_of_4.html

guest · Jul 17, 2018

Lawmakers call on Amazon and Google to reconsider ban on domain fronting
July 17, 2018
https://www.cyberscoop.com/domain-fronting-ban-letter-ron-wyden-marco-rubio-amazon-google/

Amazon and Google face sharp questions from a bipartisan pair of U.S. senators over the tech giants’ decisions to ban domain fronting, a technique used to circumvent censorship and surveillance around the world.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., sent a letter on Tuesday to Google CEO Larry Page and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos over decisions by both companies in April to ban domain fronting.

“We respectfully urge you to reconsider your decision to prohibit domain fronting given the harm it will do to global internet freedom and the risk it will impose upon human rights activists, journalists, and others who rely on the internet freedom tools,” the senators wrote.

Domain fronting made front page news earlier this year when, in an attempt to ban the messaging app Telegram, the country of Russia ended up banning large swaths of Amazon and Google’s cloud networks.
Wyden and Rubio asked for written responses to two questions about Google and Amazon’s decision to end domain fronting: [...] You can read the full letter below.
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guest · Aug 29, 2018

Russian watchdog considers U-turn on Telegram ban
But only if the company complies with its court order
August 28, 2018
https://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/3061704/russian-watchdog-considers-u-turn-on-telegram-ban

On Tuesday, the watchdog said it would consider lifting the ban,... if Telegram also changes its mind and complies with the court order, RT reports.

Telegram, unsurprisingly, doesn't appear willing to bend to the watchdog's orders.

"A disclosure not of the content of the messages even, but only of an IP address or a telephone number. The balance must be found between national security and privacy."

Durov reiterated this stance in a post to his own Telegram channel. He noted that the company had updated its privacy policy to comply with GDPR to include a new section that reads: "If Telegram receives a court order that confirms you're a terror suspect, we may disclose your IP address and phone number to the relevant authorities. So far, this has never happened. [...]"
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mirimir · Aug 30, 2018

If Telegram receives a court order that confirms you're a terror suspect, we may disclose your IP address and phone number to the relevant authorities. So far, this has never happened. [...]"
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Hmmm. That's not such great news

Edit: So I did some digging. Briar and Ricochet are the only current encrypted messaging apps that are fully P2P, and also use the Tor network to hide users' IP addresses from each other, and from third parties. And so they're the only options that aren't trivially vulnerable to identity compromise. Without compromising Tor, I mean. Some users may not want to be seen connecting to Tor, but that can be avoided by using unpublished bridges, or hitting Tor through VPN services.

Although Tox and Ring don't use Tor, they're fully P2P. While ISPs can log source and destination IP addresses, there's no third party that retains account information.

For the rest, all bets are off. In their privacy policies, Signal,[0] Telegram,[1] and WhatsApp[2] all say that they may disclose such account information as IP address and phone number when legally required.

Just sayin'.

0) https://www.signal.co/privacy-policy/
1) https://telegram.org/privacy
2) https://www.whatsapp.com/legal/

BriggsAndStratton · Aug 30, 2018

I would hand the FSB or anyone else who request any private keys, the middle finger. Go ahead pull the app....

guest · Jun 18, 2020

mood said: ↑

Russian watchdog considers U-turn on Telegram ban
But only if the company complies with its court order
August 28, 2018
https://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/3061704/russian-watchdog-considers-u-turn-on-telegram-ban
Click to expand...

Telegram: Russia lifts ban on private messaging app after it 'agrees to help with extremism investigations'
June 18, 2020
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...ssaging-app-encryption-download-a9573181.html

Russia is lifting a ban on the Telegram private messenger app, its government has said.

The app has been officially blocked in Russia's since April 2018 when the tech company refused to provide security services with backdoor encryption keys.
In reality, Russian authorities struggled to enforce the ban, with Telegram moving to hide traffic behind mobile IP addresses. In often clumsy attempts to block access, regulators ended up switching off large chunks of the internet, including banks and even Gmail.

Earlier this week, it was reported a number of government agencies had asked Roskomnadzor, Russia's media and internet regulator, to lift the formal ban on the messenger to allow them to use it legally.
Click to expand...

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