iran

Cisco cuts ties with ZTE

Cisco Systems has washed its hands of Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE, Reuters reports, after Cisco determined that ZTE was selling Cisco-branded networking equipment to Iran.

This year, the China-based firm had been reported as selling restricted and banned computer equipment developed by Cisco and other U.S. companies to Iran's telecom firms. According to the publication, ZTE agreed to ship U.S. products -- including Cisco switches -- to firms based in that country last year.

Following investigations conducted by the FBI, the U.S. Commerce Department and the companies that allegedly uncovered the sales, the general counsel … Read more

Iran unblocks Gmail but still wants to keep out YouTube

People in Iran can apparently once again access their Gmail accounts after the service was blocked last week.

Both Gmail and the secure HTTPS version of Google were persona non grata in the country on September 24 after an Iranian official named Abdolsamad Khoramabadi announced that "Google and Gmail will be filtered nationwide until further notice." Khoramabadi is the secretary of a committee in Iran that examines the Internet for content considered illegal or criminal, according to the Iranian Labor News Agency.

The action was reportedly taken in response to an amateur movie posted on YouTube considered critical of the Prophet Muhammad among Muslims, … Read more

Iran reportedly moving on domestic Net plan, blocks Google

Iran is following through with previously reported plans to move its citizens onto a domestic Internet network, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, the country is about to start blocking Google, also according to Reuters. It's unclear whether the two moves are related.

A government deputy minister today announced the domestic Internet plans as a way to improve cybersecurity, adding that all government agencies and offices have been connected to the "national information network." The next step would be to connect everyday citizens to the network as well, he said.

Separately, state television reportedly announced Google's search engine and … Read more

Iran minister: Web is controlled by 'one or two countries'

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

Iran wants Facebook's help in fighting porn

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

Thunderstruck! A tale of malware, AC/DC, and Iran's nukes

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

Mahdi 'Messiah' malware targeted Israel, Iran PCs

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

FBI takes aim at ZTE over alleged Iran dealings, report says

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

Iran's new video game: Verdict on Salman Rushdie

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