GENEVA, January 29. /TASS/. The Swiss-based Protonmail.com email service, from which shadow bomb scare ‘warnings’ were sent according to data of the Russian telecom and media watchdog Roskomnadzor, confirmed partial blocking of access to it in Russia and undertakes measures to contact with Russian authorities for removal of the blocking, the company told TASS on Wednesday.
"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," Protonmail.com said.
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- About 250 facilities in St. Petersburg inspected due to bomb threats
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- St. Petersburg courts undergo fresh round of evacuations from bomb scare
- Sberbank’s main office and several schools in Moscow receive bomb threats
The company disclosed that it had not received any notices from Russian authorities and expressed the opinion that service blocking is an ineffective and inappropriate response to the reported threats." According to ProtonMail, "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," it added.
The Russian telecom and media regulator Roskomnadzor will limit access to the Protonmail.com email service, the authority pledged earlier.
Beginning in November 2019, courts, schools, shopping malls and other establishments in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other regions have been flooded with bogus bomb scares. The emergency services have been checking all reports, but all of them have turned out to be false alarms.