The Ministry of Digital Development recommended that Russians create backup copies of data stored in Google services, because from the beginning on September, difficulties were observed when registering new accounts, as well as when restoring access to existing ones.
Google has limited the ability of Russians to register new accounts, the Ministry of Digital Development announced. “Telecom operators also noted a significant reduction in the number of SMS sent by the company to Russian users,”, the department said.
Owners of already registered accounts can still confirm authorization via their smartphone “but there is no certainty that this option will remain.“ Therefore, the Ministry of Digital Development recommended that Russian Google users create backup copies of their data and use alternative two-factor authentication methods.
The problem manifests itself at the level of the SMS gateway that was used to register Russian users with Google, experts interviewed by RBC said. Difficulties may arise due to US sanctions against Russia, introduced on September 12 - companies and individuals operating in the United States were prohibited from providing IT-related consulting services, design and support services, and cloud services to Russian companies and citizens .
Russians quickly reoriented and began to use foreign SIM cards more often: last year there were 600 thousand in the country, in July 2024 they were 850 thousand, and at the beginning of September - already 1 million. They work in international roaming and are not used for Internet access or calls, but only for registration on foreign platforms via SMS.