標題: Foreign VPN service unavailable in China [打印本頁] 作者: homeinns 時間: 2015-1-23 23:44 標題: Foreign VPN service unavailable in China
Foreign VPN service unavailable in China
(Global Times) 09:06, January 23, 2015
By Cao Siqi
Cyber security analysts on Thursday defended China s Internet management after an overseas VPN (virtual private network) company on Wednesday announced some of its users in China have been unable to use the service since an upgrade of the Great Firewall, China s Internet infrastructure.
Cyber services should observe the network governance of the country for safety, analysts urged.
Astrill claimed in a Wednesday notice that since this year, VPN protocols used on iOS devices, including IPSec, L2TP/IPSec and PPTP, are not accessible in China in almost real-time.
An anonymous service support employee said Thursday that only iOS devices were affected while other devices like Macbook worked fine as they use different protocols.
It is because of the Great Firewall upgrade, and unfortunately, we cannot tell you the exact time [about how long it will last], said the employee, adding that the company has other solutions.
Many iPhone users were shocked to find that they could not log into their Facebook and Twitter accounts although they have bought Astrill s VPN service.
Whether to block VPN services and how to block them are closely related to the country's ability of network governance, Qin An, a cyber security expert at the China Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy, told the Global Times Thursday.
Authorities apparently cannot ignore those services as they affect our cyberspace sovereignty. For instance, a shortcut has to be blocked since it could be used for some ulterior purposes although it might affect others who use it in a right way, said Qin.
A cyber security analyst previously pointed out that companies running a VPN business in China must register with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and unregistered VPN service providers are not protected by Chinese laws.
A free VPN provider fqrouter also said on its official Twitter account on January 8 that the service of fqrouter has officially closed.
Separately, VPN Tech Runo announced on January 5 that many of its IP addresses and users in some areas with L2TP protocol have not been accessible in China since December 31.
The Great Firewall is blocking the VPN on the protocol level.
It means that the firewall does not need to identify each VPN provider and block its IP addresses.
Rather, it can spot VPN traffic during transit and block it, one of the founders of an overseas website which monitors the Internet in China told the Global Times Thursday via e-mail.
In recent years, more and more Chinese Net users are seeking alternatives to surf the Internet outside the Great Firewall by using mirror websites or VPNs.
Some Astrill VPN users reached by the Global Times Thursday said that the firewall update has also led to a price increase of VPN services. One said Thursday that another VPN service he bought a week ago increased its price by 60 yuan ($9.6) Wednesday to 240 yuan per year.作者: tomleehk 時間: 2015-1-24 23:29
(Reuters) - Google Inc's Gmail was blocked in China after months of disruptions to the world's biggest email service, with an anti-censorship advocate suggesting the Great Firewall was to blame.
Large numbers of Gmail Web addresses were cut off in China on Friday, said GreatFire.org, a China-based freedom of speech advocacy group. Users said the service was still down on Monday.
"I think the government is just trying to further eliminate Google's presence in China and even weaken its market overseas," said a member of GreatFire.org, who uses a pseudonym.
Google's own Transparency Report, which shows real-time traffic to Google services, displayed a sharp drop-off in traffic to Gmail from China on Friday.
"We've checked and there's nothing wrong on our end," a Singapore-based spokesman for Google said in an email.
In Washington, the U.S. State Department expressed concern over China's actions.
"We encourage China to be transparent in its dealings with international companies and to consider the market signal it sends with such acts," State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said.
Almost all of Google's services have been heavily disrupted in China since June this year, but until last week Gmail users could still access emails downloaded via protocols like IMAP, SMTP and POP3. These had let people communicate using Gmail on apps like the Apple iPhone's Mail and Microsoft Outlook.
China maintains tight control over the Internet, nipping in the bud any signs of dissent or challenges to the ruling Communist Party's leadership.
The country is host to the world's most sophisticated internet censorship mechanism, known as the Great Firewall of China. Critics say China has stepped up its disruption of foreign online services like Google over the past year to create an Internet cut off from the rest of the world.
The Google disruption began in the run-up to the 25th anniversary of the government's bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators around Beijing's Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989.
Gmail's setback could make email communication difficult for companies operating in China, said GreatFire.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she did not know anything about Gmail being blocked, adding that the government was committed to providing a good business environment for foreign investors.
"China has consistently had a welcoming and supportive attitude toward foreign investors doing legitimate business here," she said. "We will, as always, provide an open, transparent and good environment for foreign companies in China."
One popular way to get around China's internet censorship is to use a Virtual Private Network (VPN), which allows unhindered access to blocked sites and services.
"Using a VPN seems to be the only answer to doing anything these days online in China," said Zach Smith, a Beijing-based digital products manager at City Weekend magazine.
(Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Beijing and Lesley Wroughton in Washington; Editing by Nick Macfie and Richard Chang)作者: Qnewbie 時間: 2015-1-27 17:41
It is just a cyber-fight(war?) out there.
Remember when the States declared that Huawei&ZTE were spy for China after investigation with "warning for risk" and banned for sales of backbone products in States? It was just a matter of time to China for counter-reaction.
After snowden's leackage, the States loses the moral high ground.
We are just innocent man whom is affected by this cyber-fight.作者: Shenzhen_on9 時間: 2015-1-29 11:07
我是用L2TP/IPSec, PPTP 和OpenVPN.
OpenVPN 根本不能用.
L2TP 和PPTP 只能用很短的时间.
I can use it after one/two days. 我想我的IP地址被GFW封了.作者: 角色 時間: 2015-1-29 14:13