Kaspersky Secure Connection VPN Has Started Blocking Banned Sites in Russia

• Although Russia isn’t imposing any VPN blocks or fines just yet, Kaspersky Labs has started blocking FGIS domains via its VPN software.
• The other nine VPN vendors have stood their ground firmly, deciding not to comply with Roskomnadzor’s demands.
• The particular VPN product is currently one of the most locked down and non-trustworthy solutions in the field.

Users of Kaspersky VPN in Russia are reporting that they’re getting an “ERR CONNECTION RESET” error message when they try to access specific websites that are apparently on the country’s blacklist, known as the FGIS database. The Moscow-based company is the only VPN out of ten VPN vendors who were asked to accept Roskomnadzor’s demand to connect with the FGIS list back in March, and so those using Kaspersky Secure Connection can no longer access the domains that are banned in the country. Additionally, this comes in line with the deadlines that were set by the authorities, although the relevant penalties for those who didn't comply have not been decided yet, let alone imposed.

The authorities have stated that they would block the nine VPN providers that wouldn’t comply, but so far, nothing has happened on that front. As Alexander Zharov, the head of Roskomnadzor stated recently about this: “We have the right to block VPN services that do not comply with the law, but there is no obligation to do so at any specific time. There are nine services that do not execute the law. We may wait for fines under a new law. We are not ready to discuss a specific plan for our actions.” While we reported that the Russian Federal Assembly was pushing for a hefty fine law a couple of weeks ago, the discussions about this are still ongoing.

Kaspersky Secure Connection subscribers can no longer access pirate sites anonymously, but watching movies and series is not their only concern. LibGen, a valuable repository of illicitly retrieved scientific material has also been added to the FGIS list recently, so people who were using research papers and other scientific publications can no longer grab them through Kaspersky. If you are trying to find a trustworthy VPN that still works as expected in Russia, check out our list of the best VPNs for Russia.

This VPN is not going through its best times right now, and we don’t believe it is a good choice for neither Russia-based users nor anyone else in the world. As you can check in our Kaspersky Secure Connection VPN review, it’s not particularly useful for media streaming, not very reassuring in terms of security and privacy, and not very versatile in its server selection. Most importantly though, it hasn’t managed to convince us that it puts the users’ interests first. With the FGIS connection taking place now, the Kaspersky VPN has become an option that people would have very few reasons to select at this point - if any at all.

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