VoIP in Russia, Nyet. Telegram Voice, Nyet. Just Not Yet
December 24, 2024
Written by a dinobaby, not an over-achieving, unexplainable AI system.
PCNews.ru in everyone’s favorite special operations center reported that Roskomnadzor (a blend of the FBC and a couple of US three letter agencies) has a New Year’s surprise coming. (Xmas in Russia is often celebrated on January 7, 2024.) The short write up reported to me in English via the still semi reliable Google Translate that calls within “messenger apps” are often fraudulent. I am not sure this is a correct rendering of the Russian word. One of my colleagues suggested that this is a way to say, “Easily intercepted and logged by Roskomnadzor professionals.”
Among the main points in the article are:
- The target is voice traffic not routed via Roskomnadzor
- Communication operators — that is, Internet providers, data centers, etc. — are likely to be required to block such traffic with endpoints in Russia
- As part of the “blocks,” Roskomnadzor wants to identify or have identified for the entity such functions as “identifying illegal call centers (including those using SIM boxes) on their networks.”
The purpose is to protect Russian “consumers.” The source cited above included an interesting factoid. YouTube traffic, which has been subject to “blocks” has experienced a decrease in traffic of 80 percent.
Not bad but a 20 percent flow illustrates that Roskomnadzor has been unable to achieve its total ban. I wonder if this 80 percent is “good enough” for Roskomnadzor and for the fearless head of state who dictates in Russia.
Stephen E Arnold, December 24, 2024
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