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| China Cracks Down on Virtual Private Networks Posted: 01 Feb 2015 07:23 PM PST The 'Great Firewall' of China has been upgradedThe Great Firewall, as China's internet censorship system is commonly known, has lately become less tolerant of virtual private networks (VPNs), which a large section of Chinese internet users and businesses rely on to access blocked websites and services. At least three VPN providers known to be popular in China have openly admitted to being hit by "severe disruptions" that point to a major advancement in Chinese internet filtering capabilities. This latest crackdown on VPNs is notable for both its sophistication and aggressiveness, with the new, improved Great Firewall's filtering capabilities no longer being restricted to previously confirmed VPNs; the system is now capable of identifying and blocking VPN traffic in real time, according to Astrill — one of the affected providers, along with StrongVPN and Golden Frog. According to the People's Daily, Wen Ku, a senior government official with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, confirmed the latest digital crackdown in a news conference Tuesday. "The country needs new methods to tackle new problems ... the development of the Internet has to be in accordance with Chinese laws," the paper quoted him as saying. VPNs are a social lifeline of sorts for millions of ordinary Chinese, the vast majority of whom turn to them not as a form of dissent, but for such harmless, mundane activities as staying in touch with friends and family members based overseas. Likewise, there is no dearth of those who use VPNs for similarly harmless (albeit important) professional reasons. Follow Pulkit on Google+ |
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