As war rages on between Russia and Ukraine, statistics are showing VPN usage has increased by 600% since February 24th, when Russian first invaded Ukraine. As many know, Russia has placed restrictions on social networks like Facebook and Twitter as well as foreign media sites, which has led to the uptick in VPN usage.
In Ukraine, the search volume for VPNs increased by around 600 percent between February 27 and March 2, compared with the 30 days prior. According to Top 10 VPN, which publishes this data, the number is indicative of Russian cyber attacks on the country’s online infrastructure.
By far the biggest search interest in VPN was generated in the current year by a coordinated internet shutdown in Kazakhstan on January 5. The government pulled the internet plug as protests erupted over rising natural gas prices after a price cap ended. VPN searches increased by around 3,400 percent as a result.
*graphic provided by Statista’s Katharina Buchholz
