Govt ‘tested’ six-hour VPN blockage on Sunday: report

The virtual private networks (VPNs) in Pakistan on Sunday were disrupted as the governemnt reportedly 'tested' blockage of VPNs services for six hours, according to Geo News.

VPNs are used to access the world content that may not be accessible in the country. In Pakistan case VPN is being used to access X, as the social media platform was banned across the country since February.

Multiple X users complaint slowdown and shutdown of VPN on Sunday.

“For the whitelisting, it is being blocked temporarily,” said the sources.

The sources matianed that non-registered VPNs allow illegal access to “sensitive data” which could cause security risks for the country. 

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) began VPN registration in 2010, and approximately 20,500 VPNs of 1,422 companies have been registered so far.

In September, in a statement, the PTA requested that IT companies, software houses, freelancers, banks, and other businesses register their VPNS to ensure uninterrupted internet services in case of any disruptions.

Earlier, chairperson of the Wireless and Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan, Shahzad Arshad told The News in September that the government is attempting to block non-reigstered VPNs. 

A graph on the website showed that users reported service outages, with 10 reported at 6:15 pm, followed by users of another VPN service at 7:29 pm.

Some X users have started sharing lists of VPN services still active in Pakistan.