These VPNs Can Evade the Chinese Great Firewall (So Far)

At the end of March, the Chinese government beefed-up its infamous Great Firewall oppressive features. While the name may conjure in Western minds thoughts of securing the Chinese government’s data, the Great Firewall of China is actually the world’s most sophisticated and aggressive censorship system.

In other words, this firewall isn’t meant solely to keep attackers out, but to keep its citizens’ thoughts and speech under firm control. Even VPNs end up caught in its growing black hole. The resulting exposure to career threats and human lives is brutal and unrelenting. And it’s getting worse.

Recently, China’s attacks on internet freedoms have expanded beyond its borders. Indeed, “one of China’s most insidious exports [is] its censorship techniques, and its Firewall is an inspiration for aspiring autocrats the world over,” journalist James Griffiths writes in his book, “The Great Firewall of China.”

VPNs are vital protections for citizens or anyone working in or with China. Unfortunately, VPNs are “being systematically detected and shut down by the government in really advanced and upsetting ways,” reports Comparitech, a research, review, and tech comparison website for consumers.

Comparitech’s Aaron Phillips

“Large scale testing of VPNs in China is challenging, not least because someone caught inside the country running these tests would be at the mercy of Chinese authorities. China represents one of the biggest markets for VPN use, but there is a lack of reliable information on which VPNs actually work behind the Great Firewall,” Comparitech’s reviewer and tester, Aaron Phillips wrote.

“To mitigate the ethical issues of employing a tester within China, Comparitech rented a server in Shenzhen and commissioned me to test 59 VPN providers after the latest government purge. I checked each app to make sure I could connect to banned websites and get around regional content bans,” he added.

The testing details are outlined in Aaron’s post, but here are his key findings:

So which VPNs passed the test and evaded China’s crushing firewall (so far)? Here’s the list with Aaron’s comments:

Any weakness in a VPN, no matter how small, can lead to China detecting it and shutting it down.

“Proton is a great example of a strong VPN provider that just hasn’t been able to keep up with China’s evolving defenses. They use outdated methods like routing OpenVPN traffic through port 443, intended to disguise OpenVPN as HTTPS traffic, which have proven ineffective against an adapting China,” wrote Aaron.

But it’s not only China that is systematically breaking down VPNs, Russia is …

… following close behind.

“Roskomnadzor (their proper name is a mouthful — The Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media) has given the world’s leading VPN providers 30 days to provide the Russian government with access to any servers located in Russia. Their immediate goal is to prevent users from viewing content that the Russian government has blacklisted. However, compliance would also mean complying with other requirements detailed in a broader internet control law,” NordVPN wrote in a statement defying Roskomnadzor’s demands. “The Russian government is working to regulate the flow of information within its borders.”

According to a NetworkWorld report, the 10 VPN providers are ExpressVPN, HideMyAss!, Hola VPN, IPVanish, Kaspersky Secure Connection, KeepSolid, NordVPN, OpenVPN, TorGuard, and VyprVPN. At least half report they’re ripping their servers out of Russia but will serve any Russians who can find a way to connect to ther servers based out of country. Those VPNs are Express VPN, IPVanish, KeepSolid, NordVPN and TorGuard.

As censorship becomes a bigger problem around the world, VPNs will become increasingly vital to freedom of speech and human safety. But as these oppressive governments continue to up their games and increase their technical prowess, then one has to wonder how long VPNs can stay ahead of them.

Meanwhile, MSSPs can help their clients operate within and with such restrictive countries by keeping them abreast of which VPNs are succeeding in escaping any given despot’s reach.