Privacy in Peril: What Internet Users from Iran Should Know

What's in the news

According to Wall Street Journal, Iran “has developed, with the assistance of European telecommunications companies, one of the world’s most sophisticated mechanisms for controlling and censoring the Internet, allowing it to examine the content of individual online communications on a massive scale.” [1]

The article says they are using deep packet inspection method to not only block communication, but to monitor it to gather information about individuals. This information could be your instant messaging text, email, twitter updates, facebook activities and even your passwords. It also suggests that all the time-consuming packet inspection process is done through a single gate at a monitoring center called telecommunication company of Iran: "Every digitized packet of online data is deconstructed, examined for keywords and reconstructed within milliseconds."

The Nokia Siemens Networks, which sold the system to Iran in the second half of 2008, has announced that "The restricted functionality monitoring center provided by Nokia Siemens Networks in Iran cannot provide data monitoring, internet monitoring, deep packet inspection, international call monitoring or speech recognition. Therefore, contrary to speculation in the media, the technology supplied by Nokia Siemens Networks cannot be used for the monitoring or censorship of internet traffic." and "Nokia Siemens Networks provided TCI, the Iranian national operator, with the capability to conduct voice monitoring of local calls on its fixed and mobile network." [2]

It is worth mentioning the Internet speed in Iran has been very slow recently. This is not a proof of DPI method implementation or anything similar but surely is a dubious symptom.


What should you believe?

I think it doesn't really matter if the WSJ is correct or not. The only tangible reality is the vast filtering of Internet in Iran. This forces the populous users of Internet in here to use any option available to bypass the system. From anonymizing proxy servers to open proxies with various protocols. The Freegate software which enables users from limited countries to view blocked websites stopped the service for Iranians recently due to apparently extreme usage.

This brings up a new problem: your privacy. Most online traffic of Iran is trapped in integrated servers whether the country is using sophisticated systems to monitor traffic or users find alternative (and usually common) solutions to access the free Internet. So unless you want some bad guys blackmail you with your life's most personal info in near future, you'd better protect your privacy.


What to do?

Here is a list of techniques you can apply to protect your privacy (with no guarantees):

1) Encrypt your sensitive online activities using a Tor node or a legitimate proxy that really encrypts traffic with SSL. You can also use encryption in your instant massaging and VoIP software by configuring a secured proxy. Even the DPI can't see the content this way.

2) Having all your traffic traces integrated at a place increases the risk of blowing your identity. Don't use a single and probably widespread solution to access free Internet. Use as many options as possible.

3) Change your Internet accounts' passwords frequently if you use proxies. If you have used a proxy service to login to a website that doesn't support SSL encryption by default (e.g facebook), chances are high that the proxy server has your raw credentials logged already.

4) Don't use your real name in social networks and blogs if you are worried about being arrested for materials you post.

And last but not least, the security measures applicable for protecting privacy are much more. I'll gratefully extend it if I receive any comments.

[1]: WSJ article
[2]: Nokia Siemens Networks announcement

External links:
DPI
p2pnet story
Tor project
TCI