iran

The Web is a heinous construct.

It's patrolled by Western spies who crawl all over its pages, blocking information and quietly having people they don't like arrested. Yes, like Kim DotCom.

Iran has found a solution to this vexing problem, one that will allow Iranian citizens to freely communicate with each other about Iran's fine government and everything it is doing to assist its happy, hard-working citizens.

Yes, Iran is building its own Web, which some oddly describe as a "censored" Web.

I am utterly honored that the astutely named Fars News has quoted Iran'… Read more

Iranian officials are hoping to team up with Facebook in an effort to remove Pages and Groups that feature pornography or are soliciting prostitution. More broadly, the Iranian police force has announced plans to cleanse the Internet of content its country deems inappropriate.

The new tidbit comes from the semi-official Iranian news agency ISNA (via the Associated Press), which interviewed Commander Kamal Hadianfar, the head of Iran's cyber-police. He promised the country will work with Facebook for the new initiative, but did not elaborate on what the plan would entail.

"Pornography is a crime not just in Iran … Read more

The next big war will apparently be bug-based.

Perhaps some people are putting a lot of practice in.

For this morning reports are emerging that the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran has been subjected to a particularly malicious form of malware. Yes, the kind of malware that plays AC/DC.

And worse, not merely any old AC/DC, but specifically "Thunderstruck."

I am grateful to Venture Beat for warning me of this possibility.

Conjecture began when an Iranian scientist was said to have e-mailed F-Secure's chief research officer, Mikko Hypponen, with a cry for help. Or, who … Read more

A data-stealing Trojan capable of recording keystrokes, screenshots and audio and stealing text and image files has infected about 800 computers, mostly in Iran and Israel, over the last eight months, researchers said today.

The malware, dubbed "Mahdi" (also "Madi") because of references in the code to the word for the Islamic Messiah, included strings in Farsi and dates in the Persian calendar format in communications with a command-and-control server in at least one of the variants, and a server that was located in Iran for at least one campaign, according to a blog post from … Read more

The FBI is investigating Chinese telecommunications company ZTE for its alleged dealings with an Iranian telecom, according to a new report.

The Smoking Gun is reporting, citing sources, that the FBI is investigating ZTE for allegedly acquiring hardware and software from U.S.-based technology companies and then illegally shipping them to Iran's government-controlled carrier, the Telecommunication Company of Iran (TCI).

Reuters, which first reported on the allegations back in March, said at the time that ZTE bought surveillance equipment that could have been used by TCI to spy on Iranian citizens. The contract, according to Reuters, was inked … Read more

Every culture must have its demons.

Those demons must, in turn, be featured in video games.

America, indeed, switches demons all the time, allowing video game creators to help you shoot Russians one week and then lock and load in some difficult Arab nation the next.

It seems that Iran, one of America's latest demons -- if tales from Apple stores in Georgia are to be believed -- has decided to create demonic video games of its own. … Read more

The infamous Flame virus can delete files from a computer and is likely the cause of a cyberattack against Iran in April, according to new findings.

Flame was originally identified for its ability to steal data and capture information from keystrokes, PC displays, and audio conversations.

But a new component of Flame uncovered by security firm Symantec gives its operators the power to delete important files from compromised computer systems, Symantec researcher Vikram Thakur revealed yesterday.

Such power means that the virus can disrupt critical software and "completely disable operating systems," Reuters reported based on Thakur's findings.… Read more

It is prohibited for any U.S. person, company, organization, or agency to have any sort of business dealing that involves selling goods or services to Iran, because of U.S. government sanctions.

However, today it was reported by Reuters that Iran's second-largest mobile operator, MTN Irancell, seems to have gotten its hands on mobile computer equipment from several U.S. companies, including Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard, and Cisco Systems.

Though it's still unclear just how MTN Irancell got the equipment, Reuters has held several interviews and uncovered dozens of documents it says confirm that MTN Irancell wanted this … Read more

The United Nations has seized on the appearance of the Flame worm, which targeted computers in the Middle East, to argue that it should have more authority to deal with cybersecurity threats on the Internet.

Last week, the United Nations' International Telecommunication Union circulated a statement about Flame saying the malware "reinforces the need for a coordinated response" that could come from "building a global coalition." It took credit for Flame's discovery, saying Kaspersky Lab identified it "following a technical analysis requested by the ITU." (See CNET's FAQ.)

ITU spokesman Paul Conneally … Read more