#INSTRUCTIONS FOR DISCONNECTING THE INTERNET
The presentation about the shutdown in Kazakhstan has been published and I want to give some advice to those who are in dangerous areas.
And here we have a very bad situation in Ukraine, Belarus, Poland and the Baltic countries, which _might_ be hooked by another crazy idea of a bunker grandfather. First of all, communication lines may suffer. And not even so much at the hands of government officials, but from the deliberate destruction of the telecom infrastructure. Which, by the way, shows the experience of Yemen, literally recently.
And therefore, I think, a small note will not hurt, which can help in case of an Internet outage. If you are from Ukraine and Belarus, it definitely won’t hurt you to know this. Therefore, a huge request to distribute, discuss in chats, maybe add something ... I just draw attention to this very important issue.
What to do if you are in an internet shutdown zone:
0. Don't panic. This is generally the main thing, as I understand it. We do not know a single person who would have survived during the panic. But we know many cases when a sober understanding of the situation would save lives.
1. Of course, you can prepare ahead of time. That's why I'm writing this. What can be done:
a) In the territory where the war is taking place, the first thing that can happen is the destruction of the communications infrastructure. Therefore, it is advisable to take care of duplicate channels in advance by buying several SIM cards from different operators. The probability that several operators will be destroyed at once exists, but is lower than if you used only one provider.
b) During emergencies, it is better to conserve bandwidth. You should not immediately turn on the video in 4K mode when you just listen to the news report. Communication channels are already overloaded - everyone wants to discuss what is happening with everyone. Be prudent.
c) Since the shutdown can be partial, one should be puzzled by _different_ means of bypassing locks. It doesn't hurt to have multiple VPNs on your phone and computer. Of those that have proven themselves (and partially free) in previous cataclysms:
— Psiphon
— Lantern
* any commercial VPN that explicitly states its efforts to ensure survivability. For example, Xeovo, which I often mention in the channel @zatelecom.
d) TOR, if you know how to use it. And get data on backup bridges in advance. This is for people who are normal in technology, and, like the previous advice, it will not work 100%, but there were times when nothing worked, and TOR creaked, byte by byte, but still transmitted something.
e) Some means of communication that live within the country using the P2P method. One of the tools that I promote is FireSide messenger. Here download, register and ask to download also those people with whom you want to communicate. Actually, this messenger is designed for such things. However, alas, there is only for Android. Well, or at least a BitTorrent client (actually, NewNode are the same people who invented BitTorrent).
f) However, the experience of Kazakhstan has shown that this does not work so well. You need to understand that the disconnected Internet cannot be fixed with a “program on the phone”. And in any case, shutdowns and/or blockings make your life worse immediately, in fact.
2. Instruction for activists and general citizens:
a) Know the geography of your native land, have good friends and acquaintances. Together it is much easier to survive and not give up. And in general - just more fun.
b) Have an “emergency flash drive” with information that may come in handy - offline maps, survival instructions, medical advice, a set of favorite TV shows and music. It is unlikely that you will go through the swamps with an offline map, but the time to explore them can brighten up. Like watching Dr. House, for example.
c) Cash - put a small stash somewhere. Well, because shutting down the internet = shutting down the banking system.
d) It is VERY IMPORTANT to record all the events that are happening around you. Yes, you won't be able to send shocking footage to Twitter right now. But then, when the Internet is turned on, you can. And it really matters.
e) Do not forget about physical safety. But this is a separate article in which I am not the biggest specialist - look on the net. (and download to "emergency flash drive")
☝️ Share it. Actually, these points were written literally at the cost of lives. So maybe this will save someone. Well, at least mental health is already good.