M WEB desk: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has reportedly started clamping down on virtual private networks (VPNs). Microsoft Azure defines VPN as a means to create “a point-to-point tunnel that encrypts your personal data, masks your IP address, and allows you to bypass website blocks and firewalls on the Internet”.
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On Sunday (yesterday), user reports appeared on multiple social media platforms about difficulties accessing VPN services as well as reduced internet connectivity. It is known that PTA has started blocking unregistered VPN services nationwide.
PTA sources said that only unregistered VPNs are being blocked by the web management system, adding that these VPNs are being temporarily blocked for whitelisting.
PTA started registering VPNs in 2010 and has registered nearly 20,500 VPN services to date. The agency considers unregistered VPNs a security risk, saying that “unregistered and illegal VPNs can access sensitive data.” However, PTA sources said there is no ban on using VPNs for business purposes in Pakistan.
PTA sources said the PTA wants to speed up the process of whitelisting VPNs, adding that countries such as China, UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran and Türkiye have also blocked the VPNs. Unregistered VPN.
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PTA has yet to issue an official statement regarding complaints about difficulty accessing the VPN service.
It is pertinent to mention here that PTA has blocked social media platform X, formerly Twitter, on the grounds that it is used by “separatists and terrorists”.