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Iran Getting Better At Filtering Web Traffic

Posted by Soulskill on from the practice-makes-perfect dept.

Al writes "Rob Lemos reports that Iran's national ISPs seem to have recently gained the ability to filter large quantities of web traffic more effectively. Arbor Networks used data gathered from distributed network sensors to monitor the data going to Iran from the global internet. The firm found that all of the country's providers showed an enormous drop in traffic following the contested June 12 election, then nearly normal traffic patterns until June 26. After that, five of six national ISPs showed an 80 percent drop in traffic for approximately three weeks. The one internal ISP that continues to see significant traffic during those three weeks counts many government ministries among its clientèle. The picture painted by the data is of an ISP that is becoming increasingly skilled in filtering, says Craig Labovitz, chief scientist for Arbor Networks."

3 of 68 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Tactics by vbraga · · Score: 3, Informative

    From a quick Google search:

    Iran's Web Spying Aided By Western Technology

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    English is not my first language. Corrections and suggestions are welcome.
  2. Re:Tactics by suzerain · · Score: 2, Informative

    I think that information is coming largely from this article.

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    gameDB
  3. Re:Tactics by plnix0 · · Score: 2, Informative
    How about we ban them from doing business with all governments? After all, From the WSJ article referenced by GP:

    Countries with repressive governments aren't the only ones interested in such technology. Britain has a list of blocked sites, and the German government is considering similar measures. In the U.S., the National Security Agency has such capability, which was employed as part of the Bush administration's "Terrorist Surveillance Program." A White House official wouldn't comment on if or how this is being used under the Obama administration.

    The Australian government is experimenting with Web-site filtering to protect its youth from online pornography, an undertaking that has triggered criticism that it amounts to government-backed censorship.

    Of course, by definition, any government interested in using such tactics is oppressive. As for Obama, anyone with even half a brain and working eyes, ears, or sense of touch knows that NSA surveillance didn't stop with Bush.