Does home ministry want to ban VPN? Here is all you need to know

VPN ban: The committee said that technological challenges posed by VPN services and Dark Web can bypass cyber security walls and allow criminals to remain anonymous online.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs has urged the government to block VPNs in India citing cyber threats. The proposal said that VPNs allow criminals to remain anonymous online and hence India must develop a coordination mechanism to block VPNs permanently.

VPNs allow criminals to remain anonymous online, a parliamentary standing committee said. (iStockphoto/Representative Image)

VPNs are virtual private networks used by most companies in India to secure their digital assets. During the lockdown, VPNs became more useful in facilitating seamless work-from-home situations.

Here is all you need to know about the VPN ban proposal

> The committee said that technological challenges posed by VPN services and Dark Web can bypass cyber security walls and allow criminals to remain anonymous online.

> VPN can easily be downloaded, as many websites are providing such facilities and advertising them, it said.

> The committee said it recommends that the Ministry of Home Affairs should coordinate with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to identify and permanently block such VPNs with the help of internet service providers. So the committee has effectively asked the Centre to take action against VPNs that are sheltering criminals.

> The ministry must take initiatives to strengthen the tracking and surveillance mechanisms by further improving and developing the state-of-the-art technology, to put a check on the use of VPN and the dark web, the report said.

VPN services encrtpt daya and hides the IP address. For the secon reason, one can check blocked sites using VPN. VPN services hides ones online identity even on public Wi-Fi networks.