Rostelecom blocks IP telephony at the request of the FSB across Russia

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Mass blocking and its consequences for the industry.

This week, users of IP telephony services hosted on the servers of domestic providers faced unexpected difficulties. Rostelecom, referring to the requirements of the Federal Security Service of Russia, began blocking SIP trunks. The restrictions were based on the use of IP addresses of Russian hosting companies as a means to ensure anonymity within the framework of the anti-fraud policy applied to the Virtual PBX service.

Emails sent to subscribers indicate that it is possible to discuss restoring access to specific IP addresses, but this requires individual approval from regulatory authorities. Some attempts to change IP addresses to belong to other ranges did not lead to the desired result or were only effective for a short time.

The problem turned out to be widespread, affecting not only individual users, but also many hosting providers throughout Russia. At the moment, active work is underway to find a solution to this situation.

Specialists, in cooperation with the Federal Security Service and the Ministry of Digital Development, are looking for ways to resolve the issue. A complete solution to the problem may take several weeks, but all possible measures are being taken to speed up this process.

 

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The FSB ordered Rostelecom to clean up IP telephony. From scammers

Market participants reported that Rostelecom began blocking SIP trunks from IP addresses of Russian hosting providers used for anonymization. This is done in compliance with the requirements of the Federal Security Service to combat phone fraud, but experts fear that this tool can also be used for competitive struggle.

Rostelecom blocks SIP trunks from anonymized IP addresses

Since March 13, 2024, Rostelecom has started blocking users of the Virtual PBX service registered on IP addresses of Russian hosting providers that are used for anonymization. This is stated in the message of the hosting provider FirstVDS, hosted on the site "Habrahabr".

According to the FirstVDS report, Rostelecom explained its actions by the requirements of the Federal Security Service (FSB) regarding the "anti-fraud policy" (combating the substitution of phone numbers and other fraud in communication networks). Ostensibly, Rostelecom is ready to discuss on an individual basis the opening of access for individual IP addresses, but subject to agreement "with the relevant services".

FirstVDS states that as a result, users of the hosting provider using IP telephony services with trunks from Rostelecom encountered blocking of SIP traffic. Allegedly, the problem also affected other hosting providers. Changing the IP address to addresses from a different range can only temporarily solve the problem. The company is in contact with representatives of the Ministry of Digital Development and the Federal Security Service on this issue, but it may take up to several weeks to resolve the problem.

Representatives of Rostelecom declined to comment. By the time of publication, the FSB had not responded to a question from CNews on this topic.

What are SIP trunks used for and who may be affected

SIP is a data transfer protocol that describes how a user session is established and terminated. It is also used for IP telephony. A SIP trunk is a virtual communication channel that is established between the client's infrastructure and the provider and allows processing more than one call at a time.

The SIP trunk is used to connect small telecom operators and large companies with their own PBX and number capacity to the Rostelecom network, explains Yuri Bryukvin, General Director of the Rustelecom analytical agency. Thanks to this service, customers get access to the Rostelecom telephone network, and through it-to other networks.

Blocking suspicious SIP traffic is necessary to combat phone fraud, including the infamous Ukrainian call centers, Bryukvin believes. In addition, such measures should help fight phone traffic exchanges that sell the possibility of landing calls in Russia many times lower than their official cost.

At the same time, most customers will not be affected, Bryukvin is sure: Rostelecom blocks only those customers who cannot be identified. Call centers that use this scheme may have problems, but they usually have connections to several telecom operators at once.

Threat of market redivision

A CNews source in the telecommunications market explains that the problem concerns not only Rostelecom, but also other telecom operators. "This is an initiative of the Federal Security Service and major telecom operators, which, under the guise of combating fraud ,are "probing" the market, " says the source of the publication. - At the same time, no relevant changes were made to the legislation, and under the guise of combating fraud, some operators can solve commercial problems – not to let competitors enter their networks. It is possible that changes in the legislation will be made after the presidential elections."

How to deal with phone fraud in Russia

To combat phone fraud, Roskomnadzor has created an "Anti-fraud" system that allows telecom operators to verify the authenticity of the phone number of the called subscriber. The federal budget expenditures for its creation amount to 1.5 billion rubles.

In 2023, 549 telecom operators were connected to this system, whose total number capacity was 85.8%. In total, in 2023, the Antifraud system checked 102.4 billion rubles of calls, of which 756.7 million rubles were prevented as fraudulent. But to fully solve the problem, all phone operators must connect to the Antifraud system, according to Roskomnadzor.