We’ve previously talked about Deep Packet Inspection including it’s usage, Today we’re going to talk about VPN blocking.

VPN BLOCKING

VPN blocking is a technique used to block the encrypted protocol tunneling communications methods used by virtual private network (VPN) systems. Often used by large organizations such as national governments or corporations, it can act as a tool for computer security or Internet censorship by preventing the use of VPNs to bypass network firewall systems.

Blocking VPN access can be done a few different ways. Ports that are used by common VPN tunneling protocols, such as PPTP or L2TP, to establish their connections and transfer data can be closed by system administrators to prevent their use on certain networks. Similarly, a website can prohibit access to its content by blocking access from IP addresses that are known to belong to VPN providers. Some governments have been known to block all access to overseas IP addresses, since VPN use can involve connecting to remote hosts that do not operate under that government’s jurisdiction.

HOW VPNs ARE BLOCKED?

Firewalls use advanced software to perform Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) which can analyze the type and destination of every data packet traversing the network.

DPI is what allows your ISP to tell the difference between youtube, web browser, VPN, skype or any of 1000+ other types of traffic. DPI is how a network can throttle, restrict, or even block certain types of traffic.

But here’s the key: If you can disguise your VPN traffic as regular web browser traffic, you can make it impossible for a network to block your VPN unless they’re willing to block all https browser traffic. Not likely.

COUNTRIES BLOCKED USAGE OF VPNs

As organizations have ramped up efforts to block VPN access which bypasses their firewalls, VPN providers have responded by utilizing more sophisticated techniques to make their connections less conspicuous. For instance, as the Chinese government began using deep packet inspection to identify VPN protocols, Golden Frog began scrambling OpenVPN packet metadata for its popular VyprVPN service in an attempt to avoid detection.

1. China

Chinese internet users started reporting unstable connections in May 2011 while using VPNs to connect to overseas websites and services such as the Apple App Store. 
Universities and businesses began issuing notices to stop using tools to circumvent the firewall.

In late 2012, companies providing VPN services claimed the Great Firewall of China became able to “learn, discover and block” the encrypted communications methods used by a number of different VPN systems. In 2017, telecommunications carriers in China were instructed by the government to block individuals’ use of VPNs by February 2018.

2. Iran

The government of Iran began blocking access to non-government sanctioned VPNs in March 2013, a few months prior to the 2013 elections, to “prosecute users who are violating state laws” and “take offenders to national courts under supervision of judiciary service”. Use of VPNs approved by the government reportedly led to surveillance and inspection of private data.

3. Russia

In July 2017, the State Duma passed a bill requiring the Internet providers to block websites that offer VPNs, in order to prevent the spreading of “extremist materials” on the Internet. It’s unclear exactly how Russia plans to implement their new regulation; though it seems like both the Federal Security Service (FSB) and ISPs will be tasked with identifying and cracking down on VPNs.
Russian internet users have also reported a block on the ExpressVPN VPN service. In November, 2017 BBC made it clear that Russia has not banned VPN usage entirely. VPN usage is only banned when attempting to access sites already blocked by Roskomnadzor or Russia’s governing body for telecommunications and mass media communications, Using a VPN for business or personal reasons to access legal sites in Russia is permitted.

4. Syria

The government of Syria activated deep packet inspection after the uprising in 2011 in order to block VPN connections. The censorship targeted different VPN protocols like OpenVPN, L2TP and PPTP.

BYPASS VPN BLOCKING

VPN providers are aware that some ISPs/networks are blocking VPN traffic. That’s why they invented ‘Stealth’ VPN technology.

A stealth VPN can disguise/scramble your VPN traffic so it’s either not identifiable as VPN traffic, or even better — disguised as regular TLS encrypted web traffic.

Here are the two tried and true techniques to unblock your VPN service on almost any network:

#1 – Run OpenVPN on port 443

Port 443 is the port commonly used by SSL/TLS encrypted web traffic. This is a standard internet encryption protocol that you use every time you access a website with sensitive account data, like your bank, credit card, or tax account.

Since OpenVPN already uses the SSL encryption library, simply by switching the port # to 443, it will easily slip through all but the most rigorous DPI firewalls.

How to use port 443

Most high-quality, paid VPN services will allow you to switch the port # (or have dedicated server locations that access port 443). If you need help setting it up, just contact tech support for you VPN provider.

#2 – StealthVPN / Obfuscation

Even if you use port 443, most VPN protocols still have a data packet ‘header’ which is like a fingerprint that can potentially allow a firewall to recognize traffic as VPN traffic.

By using a VPN service that has Obuscation or ‘Stealth’ technology, your VPN connection can rewrite or obscure the packet headers (smudge the fingerprint) so it’s unrecognizable.

VPN with stealth/obfuscation technology:

• TrueVPN (Score: 4.9 out of 5)

#3 – Use WireGuard Protocol

Use a VPN that supports WireGuard protocol, such as TrueVPN

WireGuard is a security-focused virtual private network (VPN) known for its simplicity and ease of use. It uses proven cryptography protocols and algorithms to protect data. Originally developed for the Linux kernel, it is now deployable on Windows, macOS, BSD, iOS and Android.
Why to use WireGuard? We’ve talked about why you should use it in this article.

Summary

We’ve learned 3 different ways to unblock your VPN on any network, and get through any firewall.

The easiest solution is often the best, and you’ll find 90%+ success by using either OpenVPN on port 443, or a VPN with built-in obfuscation technology.

And if after exhausting all options you still find yourself blocked, then go with obfsproxy and Tor as the ultimate unblocker.

Deep packet inspection is also used to decide if a particular packet is redirected to another destination. In short, deep packet inspection is able to locate, detect, categorize, block, or reroute packets that have specific code or data payloads that are not detected, located, categorized, blocked, or redirected by conventional packet filtering. Unlike plain packet filtering, deep packet inspection goes beyond examining packet headers.

HOW DEEP PACKET INSPECTION WORKS?

Deep packet inspection is a form of packet filtering usually carried out as a function of your firewall. It is applied at the Open Systems Interconnection’s application layer.

Deep packet inspection evaluates the contents of a packet that is going through a checkpoint. Using rules that are assigned by you, your Internet service provider, or the network or systems administrator, deep packet inspection determines what to do with these packets in real time.

Deep packet inspection is able to check the contents of these packets and then figure out where it came from, such as the service or application that sent it. In addition, it can work with filters in order to find and redirect network traffic from an online service, such as Twitter or Facebook, or from a particular IP address.

DPI VS. CONVENTIONAL PACKET FILTERING

Conventional packet filtering only reads the header information of each packet. This was a basic approach that was less sophisticated than the modern approach to packet filtering largely due to the technology limitations at the time. Firewalls had very little processing power, and it was not enough to handle large volumes of packets. In other words, conventional packet filtering was similar to reading the title of a book, without awareness or evaluation of the content inside the cover.

With the advent of new technologies, deep packet inspection became feasible. As it became more thorough and complete, it became more comparable to picking up a book, cracking it open, and reading it from cover to cover.

USE CASES FOR DPI

There are several uses for deep packet inspection. It can act as both an intrusion detection system or a combination of intrusion prevention and intrusion detection. It can identify specific attacks that your firewall, intrusion prevention, and intrusion detection systems cannot adequately detect.

If your organization has users who are using their laptops for work, then deep packet inspection is vital in preventing worms, spyware, and viruses from getting into your corporate network. Furthermore, using deep packet inspection is based on rules and policies defined by you, allowing your network to detect if there are prohibited uses of approved applications.

Deep packet inspection is also used by network managers to help ease the flow of network traffic. For instance, if you have a high priority message, you can use deep packet inspection to enable high-priority information to pass through immediately, ahead of other lower priority messages. You can also prioritize packets that are mission-critical, ahead of ordinary browsing packets. If you have problems with peer-to-peer downloads, you can use deep packet inspection to throttle or slow down the rate of data transfer. DPI can also be used to enhance the capabilities of ISPs to prevent the exploitation of IoT devices in DDOS attacks by blocking malicious requests from devices.

Mobile service operators and other similar service providers also use deep packet inspection to tailor-fit their offerings to individual subscribers allowing them to differentiate data usage as “all you can eat,” wall garden, or value added. Record labels and other copyright holders can also request ISPs to block their content from being downloaded illegally – a process achieved through deep packet inspection.

Other times, deep packet inspection is used to serve targeted advertising to users, lawful interception, and policy enforcement. Deep packet inspection can also prevent some types of buffer overflow attacks. 

Lastly, deep packet inspection can help you prevent anybody from leaking information, such as when e-mailing a confidential file. Instead of being able to successfully send out a file, the user will instead receive information on how to get the necessary permission and clearance to send it.

As with other technologies, deep packet inspection can also be used for less than admirable purposes, such as eavesdropping and censorship. In fact, the Chinese government has been known to use deep packet inspection to monitor the country’s network traffic and censor some content and sites that are harmful to their interests. This is how China has been able to block out pornography, religious information, materials concerning political dissent, and even popular websites such as Wikipedia, Google, and Facebook.

While DPI has many potential use cases, it can easily detect the recipient or sender of the content that it monitors, so there are some concerns around privacy. This is primarily a concern when DPI is used in the context of marketing and advertising, through monitoring the behavior of users and selling browsing and other data to marketing or advertising companies.

DEEP PACKET INSPECTION TECHNIQUES

Two primary types of products utilize deep packet inspection: firewalls that have implemented features of IDS, such as content inspection, and IDS systems that aim to protect the network rather than focus only on detecting attacks. Some of the main techniques used for deep packet inspection include:

● Pattern or signature matching – One approach to using firewalls that have adopted IDS features, pattern or signature matching, analyzes each packet against a database of known network attacks. The downside to this approach is that it’s effective only for known attacks, and not for attacks that have yet to be discovered.
● Protocol anomaly – Another approach to using firewalls with IDS features, protocol anomaly uses a “default deny” approach, which is a key security principle. Using this technique, protocol definitions are used to determine which content should be allowed. This differs from the approach of simply allowing all content that doesn’t match the signatures database, as occurs in the case of pattern or signature matching. The primary benefit of protocol anomaly is that it offers protection against unknown attacks.
● IPS solutions – Some IPS solutions implement DPI technologies. These solutions have similar functionality to in-line IDS, although they have the ability to block detected attacks in real-time. One of the biggest challenges in using this technique is the risk of false positives, which can be mitigated to some extent through the creation of conservative policies.

Some limitations exist with these and other DPI techniques, although vendors offer solutions aiming to eliminate the practical and architectural challenges through various means. Additionally, DPI solutions are now offering a range of other complimentary technologies such as VPNs, malware analysis, anti-spam filtering, URL filtering, and other technologies, providing more comprehensive network protection.

CHALLENGES OF DPI

No technology is perfect, and deep packet inspection is no exception. It has three distinct weaknesses:

1. Deep packet inspection is very effective in preventing attacks such as denial of service attacks, buffer overflow attacks, and even some forms of malware. But it can also be used to create similar attacks. 

2. Deep packet inspection can make your current firewall and other security software you use more complicated and harder to manage. You need to be sure that you constantly update and revise deep packet inspection policies to ensure continued effectiveness.

3. Deep packet inspection can slow down your network by dedicating resources for your firewall to be able to handle the processing load.

Aside from privacy concerns and the inherent limitations of deep packet inspection, some concerns have arisen due to the use of HTTPS certificates and even VPNs with privacy tunneling. Some firewalls are now offering HTTPS inspections, which would decrypt the HTTPS-protected traffic and determine whether the content is permitted to pass through. However, deep packet inspection continues to be a valuable practice for purposes ranging from performance management to network analytics, forensics, and enterprise security.

GOVERNMENTAL USE OF DPI

In addition to using DPI for the security of their own networks, governments in North America, Europe, and Asia use DPI for various purposes such as surveillance and censorship.
Many of these programs are classified.

United States

FCC adopts Internet CALEA requirements: The FCC, pursuant to its mandate from the U.S. Congress, and in line with the policies of most countries worldwide, has required that all telecommunication providers, including Internet services, be capable of supporting the execution of a court order to provide real-time communication forensics of specified users. In 2006, the FCC adopted new Title 47, Subpart Z, rules requiring Internet Access Providers to meet these requirements. DPI was one of the platforms essential to meeting this requirement and has been deployed for this purpose throughout the U.S.

China

The Chinese government uses Deep Packet Inspection to monitor and censor network traffic and content that it claims is harmful to Chinese citizens or state interests. This material includes pornography, information on religion, and political dissent. 
Chinese network ISPs use DPI to see if there is any sensitive keyword going through their network. If so, the connection will be cut. People within China often find themselves blocked while accessing Web sites containing content related to Taiwanese and Tibetan independence, Falun Gong, the Dalai Lama, the Tiananmen Square protests and massacre of 1989, political parties that oppose that of the ruling Communist party, or a variety of anti-Communist movements  as those materials were signed as DPI sensitive keywords already. China previously blocked all VoIP traffic in and out of their country but many available VOIP applications now function in China. Voice traffic in Skype is unaffected, although text messages are subject to filtering, and messages containing sensitive material, such as curse-words, are simply not delivered, with no notification provided to either participant in the conversation. China also blocks visual media sites such as YouTube.com and various photography and blogging sites.

Iran

The Iranian government purchased a system, reportedly for deep packet inspection, in 2008 from Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) (a joint venture Siemens AG, the German conglomerate, and Nokia Corp., the Finnish cell telephone company), now NSN is Nokia Solutions and Networks, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal in June, 2009, quoting NSN spokesperson Ben Roome. According to unnamed experts cited in the article, the system enables authorities to not only block communication but to monitor it to gather information about individuals, as well as alter it for disinformation purposes.

Russian Federation

DPI is not yet mandated in Russia. Federal Law №139 enforces blocking websites on the Russian Internet blacklist using IP filtering, but does not force ISPs into analyzing the data part of packets. Yet some ISPs still use different DPI solutions to implement blacklisting. For 2019, the governmental agency Roskomnadzor is planning a nationwide rollout of DPI after a pilot project in one of the country’s regions, at an estimated cost of 20 billion roubles (US$300M).

Singapore

The city state reportedly employs deep packet inspection of Internet traffic.

Syria

The state reportedly employs deep packet inspection of Internet traffic, to analyze and block unallowed transit.

Malaysia

The incumbent Malaysian Government, headed by Barisan Nasional, was said to be using DPI against a political opponent during the run-up to the 13th general elections held on 5 May 2013.

The purpose of DPI, in this instance, was to block and/or hinder access to selected websites, e.g. Facebook accounts, blogs and news portals.

Egypt

Since 2015, Egypt reportedly started to join the list which was constantly being denied by the Egyptian National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) officials. However, it came to news when the country decided to block the encrypted messaging app Signal as announced by the application’s developer.

In April 2017, all VOIP applications including FaceTime, Facebook Messenger, Viber, Whatsapp calls and Skype have been all blocked in the country.

Ultrafast Speed

There’s no doubt that almost every gamer has faced the same predicament: you’re enjoying your favorite game while connected to a VPN, and suddenly your connection slows down to an unbearably lagging speed. While VPNs offer security and privacy benefits, they also tend to affect your connection speeds. By using the TrueVPN on WireGuard protocol, however, you can still enjoy the same VPN perks without having to sacrifice your speed. WireGuard offers the fastest VPN speeds when compared to other protocols, making it possible to game securely without interruptions to your connection.

Access to Restricted Games

Ever find that you want to access a new game, but you can’t because it hasn’t been released in your region yet? In order to bypass this pesky block, you can use TrueVPN to hide your true location and make it appear as if you are located somewhere where the game is available.

Lower Latency

Another perk of TrueVPN is that it can potentially lower latency to game servers, Thanks to WireGuard Protocol for that. Internet congestion, especially during high-traffic times, can impact your connection and cause annoying latency issues. TrueVPN provides a better route to the servers you’re trying to connect to while you play so you won’t experience as much interference. 

No More Bans

If you’ve ever made an admin angry and gotten kicked out of a game, you know the struggle is real with this one. Being banned from a game means your IP address is banned. Once you connect to a VPN with TrueVPN, however, your true IP address is hidden and you can play with a different IP address. You can even regularly switch server locations to keep changing your IP address and keep your identity totally hidden.

Protection from DDoS Attacks

Getting hit by what’s known as a DDoS attack can ruin an entire gaming session. A DDoS attack, short for distributed denial of service, happens when your connection is overwhelmed with information in order to block your data from reaching the server, ultimately kicking you out of your game. These attacks are coordinated by third parties who target your IP address right under your nose. The scary part is that just about anyone can launch a DDoS attack—including anyone you may have ticked off in the gaming world. While many ISPs implement protection against these attacks, using TrueVPN adds an extra layer of security that makes your connection virtually bulletproof.

Especially-made Gaming VPN Servers

Using a regular VPN servers for gaming for streaming is not recommended for gamers.
Why? Because these servers aren’t optimized for speed, so by using a regular VPN server for gaming or streaming may effect the performance because these services requires a high-speed VPN servers with at least 1Gbps port.

TrueVPN provides especially-made VPN servers only for Gaming and Streaming, These servers are optimized for speed & performance, of course the connection between the user and these servers are highly encrypted and have the same privacy features as other servers have.

These servers are geolocated, and can be found within TrueVPN app.

Conclusion

If You’re looking for a fast VPN with low latency, Then TrueVPN is your best choice.

An abbreviation of Virtual Private Network, a VPN service allows you to change or ‘spoof’ your IP address to a secure server. That helps to make you more anonymous online and let’s you effectively trick your laptop or mobile device into thinking it’s in another location. The best VPN options are increasingly being used as a replacement for or in addition to traditional online security.

Which VPN Provider should i use?

Here’s the point, There are a lot of VPN providers across the internet, some are cheap while others aren’t, However, Choosing a VPN provider depends on many factors.

• Security
• Privacy
• Features
• Pricing

Security

When we talks about security we should take in mind that the primary reason for using a VPN is to grantee the maximum security and privacy.

Some VPN providers are offering a cheap or even free VPN service with limited focus on security, They may use a week VPN protocol such as PPTP, or uses a low-encryption on their services.
So before you decide which VPN provider to choose you should ask yourself,
Which VPN provider should i Trust?

The answer of that, is followed by our next factor.

Privacy

How much are you paying in VPN subscriptions? 
Free? Just $5 a year?
All for that guarantee that your privacy is being maintained — that you are anonymous online.

Well, we’ve got news for you. You’re not anonymous. While your VPN provider may well be promising that their service is anonymous, with no logging, there is no way that you can verify this. Indeed, it’s quite a leap of faith, under the circumstances.

You have absolutely no way to know for sure how safe a ‘No logs’ claim really is. Trusting your life to a no logs VPN service it is like gambling with your life in the Russian roulette.

What is most important from a VPN provider — anonymity, or transparency? We reckon finding a VPN that you can trust trumps any fake notion of anonymity and the avoidance of keeping logs. The trick is finding a VPN that truly appreciates your anonymity and privacy, and we’re afraid that such networks are in very short supply.

Features

Alright, Here we go, We did talked about security and privacy, but what about the advantages?

Well, Every VPN provider must grantee extra advantages or security tools and feature to maximize the user’s protection level, such as Firewall, Content Blocking, Geolocating Servers ..etc

These features must be creative, and work together with the VPN connection to save user’s privacy.

Take TrueVPN for example, This app provides more than 99+ extra features for personal and enterprise use in addition to the VPN connectivity.

Pricing

When it comes for pricing the service, All mentioned above if granted in one-single VPN provider, it must be $29.99 a week or even higher.

TrueVPN grantees all factors above with a premium subscription starts from $1.99 while others offers their premium subscription starting from $5.99 or even $9.99.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for an ultra-fast connection with industry-standard protocols and no history or logs, then TrueVPN is the best you can get!