[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"branding":3,"analytics":7,"article-russias-95-ai-vpn-block-target-leaves-draft-not-the-budget":10,"sections":35},{"siteName":4,"siteTagline":5,"publisherName":4,"contactEmail":6},"The Revision","Tech news, decoded.","editor@therevision.news",{"gaMeasurementId":8,"adsenseClientId":9},"G-ZW2MV82GYR","ca-pub-8533917693782264",{"article":11},{"id":12,"slug":13,"title":14,"dek":15,"body_md":16,"tags_json":17,"published_at":18,"created_at":19,"updated_at":20,"status":21,"review_note":22,"review_notes":23,"image_url":22,"persona_id":22,"persona_name":22,"section":24,"tags":25,"sources":30,"feedback":34,"feedback_at":22,"cost_usd":34,"total_tokens":34},11936,"russias-95-ai-vpn-block-target-leaves-draft-not-the-budget","Russia's 95% AI VPN Block Target Leaves Draft, Not the Budget","A ministry says the AI measure is out of the national plan, but a separately funded machine-learning filter at the communications regulator keeps moving.","Russia's Digital Development Ministry floated using AI to push its VPN blocking to 95% effectiveness, then said the idea is not in the current draft of the national AI plan. The filtering work it implied is still funded elsewhere.\n\nA newspaper report on the draft plan through 2030 said the ministry wanted AI to analyze the characteristics of 70% of the VPN services Russia blocks. The drafters reckoned that would lift blocking effectiveness to 95%. The ministry now says the current draft \"contains no such information.\" A source told the paper that agencies pitched a range of measures, some of which may never be implemented.\n\nSome earlier coverage called the 95% figure \"accuracy.\" It is an effectiveness target: how much VPN traffic gets stopped, with no count of the legitimate traffic caught alongside it. Nor is it a big jump. A January 2025 subsidy decision for a unit of Roskomnadzor, the communications regulator, already sets 92% effectiveness for signature-based VPN restriction by the end of 2030.\n\nThe difference with AI is method. Current tools match known signatures. A model would weigh packet sizes and timing, session length, and the balance of inbound to outbound traffic, then flag likely servers from clues such as the host and neighboring IP addresses. The gain is speed: catching servers before they reach a blocklist.\n\nThe ministry's denial covers one document. Roskomnadzor has a machine-learning traffic-filtering project budgeted separately, with 2.27 billion rubles (about $29 million) planned for 2026, according to a January business magazine report. Money for blocking infrastructure is set to double next year.\n\nFalse positives are the obvious cost. When the ministry ordered major platforms in April to block users with VPNs switched on, its guidance promised a whitelist for corporate VPNs. Telegram founder Pavel Durov claimed the crackdown \"triggered a massive banking failure,\" and outage data showed bank disruptions on April 3. A source told a Russian outlet that no reliable method existed to tell permitted corporate traffic from the rest.\n\nPressure is rising regardless. At least 10 VPN providers reported tighter restrictions after September's State Duma elections. An estimated 57 million Russians rely on circumvention tools, and one industry voice warned of \"an ever-shrinking number of services that actually work.\" Deleting a line from a strategy document is not the same as abandoning the capability, and the budget suggests the regulator never needed the line.","[\"russia\",\"vpn\",\"censorship\",\"ai\"]","2026-10-20T18:25:00.000Z","2026-10-20T20:09:32.280Z","2026-10-20T20:09:32.454Z","published",null,[],"policy",[26,27,28,29],"russia","vpn","censorship","ai",[31],{"name":32,"url":33},"TechRadar","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.techradar.com\u002Fpro\u002Fsecurity\u002Frussia-drafted-plans-for-ai-that-could-block-95-percent-of-vpns-but-the-idea-has-quietly-vanished-from-its-national-roadmap",0,{"sections":36},[37,41,46,50,55,60,65,70,75,80,85,90,95,100],{"name":38,"slug":29,"count":39,"latest_published_at":40},"AI",7045,"2026-10-20T21:25:22.000Z",{"name":42,"slug":43,"count":44,"latest_published_at":45},"Security","security",1021,"2026-10-20T20:25:00.000Z",{"name":47,"slug":24,"count":48,"latest_published_at":49},"Policy",553,"2026-10-21T00:20:00.000Z",{"name":51,"slug":52,"count":53,"latest_published_at":54},"Deals","deals",538,"2026-10-20T20:17:07.000Z",{"name":56,"slug":57,"count":58,"latest_published_at":59},"Hardware","hardware",272,"2026-10-20T22:38:24.000Z",{"name":61,"slug":62,"count":63,"latest_published_at":64},"Consumer Tech","consumer-tech",257,"2026-10-20T22:30:00.000Z",{"name":66,"slug":67,"count":68,"latest_published_at":69},"Science","science",209,"2026-10-20T21:02:53.000Z",{"name":71,"slug":72,"count":73,"latest_published_at":74},"Startups","startups",137,"2026-10-20T22:24:15.000Z",{"name":76,"slug":77,"count":78,"latest_published_at":79},"Software","software",134,"2026-10-20T14:57:15.000Z",{"name":81,"slug":82,"count":83,"latest_published_at":84},"Dev Tools","dev-tools",119,"2026-10-20T13:00:00.000Z",{"name":86,"slug":87,"count":88,"latest_published_at":89},"General","general",91,"2026-10-20T23:04:19.000Z",{"name":91,"slug":92,"count":93,"latest_published_at":94},"Gaming","gaming",83,"2026-10-20T23:30:00.000Z",{"name":96,"slug":97,"count":98,"latest_published_at":99},"Reviews","reviews",38,"2026-10-20T12:00:00.000Z",{"name":101,"slug":102,"count":103,"latest_published_at":104},"How-To","how-to",8,"2026-10-05T09:00:00.000Z"]