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Paper Title

-- By AndrewHarmeyer - 18 Dec 2012

Introduction

The governments of closed societies such as Iran, North Korea, China, and others employ different technological measures in an attempt to restrict their citizens’ access to the worldwide web. These measures have varying degrees of success, and the citizens of these societies attempt to circumvent the restrictive measures through an increasingly cat-and-mouse game of technological brinksmanship. This short paper focuses on the situation in Iran, which for now, closely resembles China’s “Great Firewall,” but may move toward a domestic intranet, similar to North Korea’s, sometime in 2013.

Iran’s Own Great Firewall

The Iranian government employs an Internet filter similar to China’s “Great Firewall” that is designed to prevent everyday Iranians from accessing around 27 percent of all Internet sites. Iran’s version of the Great Firewall uses deep packet inspection, which deconstructs packets of online data and mines that data for certain keywords or other criteria. The packet is then reconstructed and either sent along its way, rerouted, or dumped entirely. The Iranian government can do more than just block unwanted communications; it has the ability to mine packets for information about individuals sending them, as well as alter the packets for disinformation purposes. Unlike China’s Great Firewall, which is much more decentralized, Iran’s system passes through a single communications channel because the government owns the country’s only telecom. Iran’s monitoring equipment was provided, in part, by a joint venture of Siemens and Nokia.

Iran’s “Great Firewall” currently blocks most Western social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter. Iran has its own social networking site called Cloob. It also blocks sites that are sexually explicit or are considered anti-government. The Iranian government blocked YouTube in 2009 after the website helped rally its citizens to attend demonstrations against the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The government has since launched a state-run alternative to the video-sharing website called “Mehr.” In late September, Iran blocked access to Gmail for one week, which was restored following a large number of complaints.

Many of Iran’s users reportedly use virtual private networks (VPN) to get past Iran’s Great Firewall. VPNs create an encrypted tunnel between a computer in Iran and an Internet server somewhere outside the country that does not have Iran’s restrictions. By using a VPN, Iranians are still able to access blocked sites such as Facebook and YouTube? despite their government’s restrictions. VPNs are also commonly used to get past China’s Great Firewall; however, recent reports indicate the Chinese Government is using new smart technology that can "learn, discover and block" the encrypted channels used by VPNs. One of the largest ISPs in China is automatically disconnecting users when a VPN is detected. Whether this technology will continue to be employed for the long-term in China is yet to be seen because it will have a negative impact on Chinese and other foreign businesses, which commonly use a VPN for a secure connection to sensitive work data.

Moving Toward a Domestic Intranet in Iran

According to the Washington Post, Iran has already built the basic infrastructure for a closed intranet, with other reports indicating it could be operational by March 2013. There are conflicting reports on whether the system would be used as a back-up, in the event the government wants to temporarily disconnect the global Internet in times of civil unrest, or whether Iran’s domestic intranet has the potential to be totally cutoff from the global Internet. Iran’s Minister of Communication and Information Technology says the purpose of the new system is to protect “precious intelligence of the country,” most likely referring to the Stuxnet virus, a virus that attacked the country’s nuclear program, and the Flame virus, a virus that secretly collected information from the computers of high-ranking government officials. But beyond protecting from cyber spying by foreign countries, there is valid concern that the intranet will be used to further Iran’s campaign of Internet censorship against its citizens.

North Korea is the only other country with a totally domestic intranet, called Kwanymyong. [1] North Korea’s Kwanymyong is not connected to the global Internet, in part to protect the leak of classified data, but also to prevent North Koreans from accessing foreign news sources. There are connections to the global Internet in Korea, through a cross-border link to China’s Netcom, or via a satellite to Germany. These connections are limited to only a few thousand people: the most elite members of society, diplomats, and companies. Some hotels also provide Internet access to foreign travelers.

Conclusion

Iran’s move to a domestic intranet could make the practice of using VPNs to access blocked content more difficult or nearly impossible. If the intranet is truly domestic with no outside link, then a VPN could not secure an encrypted connection to another server outside of the country. However, some technology experts question whether it is even possible for Iran to completely disconnect itself from the global Internet. Further, if it were possible, it would probably encourage civil unrest. Unlike, North Korea, Iran already has a large and growing base of Internet users, many of whom reportedly use VPNs and other services to access unrestricted browsing.

Footnote

[1] The majority of Cubans who use a computer also use a government run intranet that provides limited content. In Cuba, however, the Internet is available to the public, but most Cubans cannot afford it. The government run intranet is mostly accessed in public facilities where identification and registration is required.

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