ProtonMail and StartMail blocked by Russia

Encrypted email providers say its part of the country's crackdown on digital privacy

Russia has blocked encrypted email service providers ProtonMail and StartMail, citing their use by perpetrators of bomb threats.

The ProtonMail ban came into force on Wednesday, according to Reuters, with Russian communications and data protection authority Roskomnadzor saying that ProtonMail's services had been used to send anonymous bomb threats. Such threats have frequently disrupted life in Russia by forcing the evacuation of public buildings.

The communications watchdog said it had contacted ProtonMail to obtain the identities of the people behind the anonymous accounts, but the US/Swiss email service provider refused to comply.

However, ProtonMail denied that Roskomnadzor had made any such request.

"We have received reports that ProtonMail and ProtonVPN are currently partially blocked in Russia. We are reaching out to the appropriate authorities to get the block lifted as soon as possible," the company said in a statement sent to Computing.

"Blocking access to ProtonMail is an ineffective and inappropriate response to the reported threats. It will not prevent cybercriminals from sending threats with another email service, and will not be effective if the perpetrators were located outside of Russia. The cybercriminals will also likely be able to bypass the block using one of many VPN services."

Image source: StartMail

The ProtonMail ban was preceeded by a block placed on StartMail. On its website, Netherlands-based StartMail says its services have also been restricted in Russia as of January 23rd, with a similar justification provided by the authorities.

"The reason given is ‘to protect the Russian segment of the Internet from disseminating inaccurate socially significant information, distributed under the guise of reliable messages'", writes CEO Robert Beens in a blog post. "In this specific case, they claim that thousands of false bomb threats were sent from Startmail.com email accounts."

Beens said that StartMail had been added to a Russian register of information distribution organisers without the company's knowledge or consent.

"This register is part of a recent Russian initiative to force foreign internet providers to make all Russian citizen data and all data encryption keys accessible to Russian authorities," said Beens.

"To be clear: StartMail never registered for this register or contacted the Russian authorities in any way, nor has StartMail provided any information about StartMail users to the Russian authorities. It seems that at present, IP addresses of StartMail's email servers are being blocked and the StartMail.com website is no longer available from Russia."

Russia has been implementing a programme of restrictions on what its citizens can see on the web and how they can communicate privately. It is building a national internet based on the Chinese ‘Great Firewall' model, and in November brought in new laws that make it difficult for companies and individuals operating in Russia to communicate privately.