Slack Not Working in Russia? This Hack Fixes Your Worries

In less than five years, Slack has become one of the preeminent collaboration softwares in the world, giving everyone from corporate professionals to freelancers the chance to communicate, collaborate, and work together in a real-time environment despite being spread across cities, countries, or continents.

Slack is an integral tool in countries like Russia where businesses are spread out across great expanses or often into other countries that developed after the fall of the Soviet Union 30 years ago.

But with the Russian government cracking down on messenger systems that use encryption codes – and won’t share them with the government – the risk of Slack in Russia being knocked offline is a real one.

Fortunately, virtual private networks (VPNs) offer an alternative solution when Slack is not available in Russia. Whatever purpose you need this incredible collaboration tool for, VPNs can keep you up and running regardless of the official stance of the Russian government. Editor’s Note: We value our relationship with our readers, and we strive to earn your trust through transparency and integrity. We are in the same ownership group as some of the industry-leading products reviewed on this site: ExpressVPN, Cyberghost, Private Internet Access, and Intego. However, this does not affect our review process, as we adhere to a strict testing methodology.

What to Look for in a VPN for Russia

In Russia, the issues of censorship and potential repercussions are significant, underscoring the need to thoughtfully weigh important aspects when selecting an appropriate VPN for utilizing Slack within the nation.

• The first is security
  Less security usually means a lower price on a VPN, but cheap usually means not very secure. More expensive VPNs will include several layers of security designed to ensure your connection stays safe and private no matter what you’re trying to access or where you are located. Features like kill switches, DNS leak prevention, etc., are all standard features of the more powerful VPNs. If you are going to use your VPN for a country like USA or Canada, security isn’t as much of a top priority as in Russia.
• The second is a high number of available servers to choose from
  It’s essential to have a lot of servers available as there will always be plenty that are offline, working only intermittently, or have too much traffic on them to jump on. And with a country as large as Russia, different servers in other countries are much closer to certain cities. Using a VPN in Moscow, it makes sense to use a remote server in Belarus; but if you are connecting from Omsk, something like Kazakhstan makes much more sense.
• The third is customer service
  Russia’s censorship sometimes requires different settings and requirements. Having competent help that is readily available is your best bet to getting connected safely and privately.

Best VPNs for Slack in Russia

1CyberGhost VPN

Based in Romania, CyberGhost VPN stands alone with its unique build – it owns its own servers and doesn’t have to outsource to any third parties.

Security is another win for this VPN; it has 256-bit encryption,  a safety feature that blocks malicious ads, tracking, and websites, and does not keep any logs.

One license is good for up to seven connections and it has access to more than 3,000 servers spread across more than 60 countries. It also offers an extra layer of protection when you are using public WiFi.

2Private Internet Access (PIA) VPN

Private Internet Access (PIA) VPN gives some people bad vibes given its home in the United States, but it has a strict no-logs policy and enforces it.

It has more than 3,000 servers operational and takes its security seriously with a kill switch, SOCK5 proxy, DNS leak protection, and an auto-connect feature. You can connect up to five devices at one time and there’s a money-back guarantee attached that can really be used to your advantage if your stay in Russia is a brief one.

The best news is that this is one of the lowest priced VPNs on the market, so it’s great to spend a month trying it out without ruining your bank account.