VPN services suspended in Rajouri ahead of polls amid terror threat [details]

Three days after terrorists of the proscribed outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) killed a government employee in the Thanamandi area of Rajouri district, authorities ordered the suspension of Virtual Private Networks Services (VPNs) in this border district to foil nefarious designs of anti-national elements ahead of the election.

Elections in the Rajouri district, which is now part of the newly carved Anantnag-Rajouri Parliamentary constituency, will be held in the third phase on May 7.

As per the order issued by the JKAS, Additional District Magistrate, Rajouri, Rajeev Kumar Khajuria, stated that a communication has been received from the office of Senior Superintendent of Police, Rajouri, regarding unprecedented high usage of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) during past few days in a different part of the district by suspicious internet users.

VPN suspended to protect against cyber attacks

"Whereas, VPN transmits get encrypted and creates a point to point tunnel, masks IP address and let's sidestep website blocks and firewall on the internet thus making data related to forthcoming Lok Sabha Elections and other sensitive data vulnerable to cyber attacks," it read.

It further stated that it has become imperative to take immediate preventive measures to protect and save all data and information related to the ensuing Lok Sabha Elections and other sensitive, vulnerable data from cyber attacks.

In view of it, the Additional District Magistrate, in the exercise of powers under Section 144 CrPC, ordered the suspension of all kinds of (VPNs) in mobile phones in district Rajouri till the culmination of the election process in the district.

VPN users can hide their IP addresses

A VPN functions by directing a device's online activity through a private service instead of its regular internet service provider (ISP). Acting as a middleman between the user and the internet, the VPN conceals the user's IP address.

By employing a VPN, users establish a secure, encrypted pathway for their devices to access the internet while safeguarding personal information, location, and other sensitive data. All online traffic is channeled through this protected connection provided by the VPN, ensuring that data sent to the internet is routed through the VPN rather than directly from the user's device.

Upon connecting to the internet via the VPN, the user's device communicates with websites via the encrypted connection established by the VPN. Subsequently, the VPN relays the request and delivers responses from the requested websites back through the connection.

Govt employee killed by terrorists on Tuesday

As reported earlier, on Tuesday, terrorists killed a government employee Mohammad Razaq in the Thanamandi area of the Rajouri district.

According to police, two Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) terrorists barged into the house of one Territorial Army (TA) official in Village Kunda Tope, which is at a distance of around two kilometers from the famous shrine of Shahdra Sharief in the Rajouri district of J&K.

The brother of a TA official, namely Mohammad Razaq was shot dead by the terrorists in the aftermath of a TA official getting slips from their clutches.

Razaq worked in the government's Social Welfare Department, while his brother Mohammad Tahir Choudhary is a soldier in the Territorial Army, who escaped unhurt.

Polling to be held on Poonch-Rajouri on May 7

Being part of the newly carved Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha, polling in the twin border districts of the Pir-Panchal range of J&K will be held on May 7. During the last couple of years, this mountainous region witnessed terror attacks after repeated intervals.

Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti is contesting election on this seat where her arch-rival the National Conference has fielded prominent Gujjar leader Mian Altaf.