These documents prove something that we have long suspected, which is that even devices that use encryption for messaging are still vulnerable because of the nature of internet infrastructure in Iran, said Mahsa Alimardani, a senior researcher with the internet freedom organization Article 19. SIAM also provides a range of tools to track the physical locations of cell users, allowing authorities to both follow an individuals movements and identify everyone present at a given spot. By Buying Twitter, Elon Musk Has Created His Own Hilarious Nightmare. Many Iranian social media users have reported receiving similar messages in recent weeks, warning them to stay away from the scene of protests or from associating with anti-revolutionary opponents of the government online. To . In the clip posted on social media on Tuesday, a dozen police kick and hit with batons a man lying on a street. Protesters have often been left wondering how the government was able to track down their locations or gain access to their private communications tactics that are frighteningly pervasive but whose mechanisms are virtually unknown. Saturday November 5, 2022. If all telecom operators in Iran are required to provide the CRA with SIAM or similar direct access, they could, in effect have complete control over all user mobile communications throughout the country. Although the documents dont mention SIAMs use against protesters or any other specific target, Miller said the functionality matches what hes observed in this and other digital crackdowns in Iran. Miller pointed out that the victim of a 2G downgrade may only notice patchy mobile reception as a result of the attack. People gather during a protest for Mahsa Amini, who died after being arrested by morality police for allegedly not complying with strict dress code, in Tehran, Iran, on Sept. 19, 2022. [Accessed: 2022-11-08T13:43:22+00:00], Irans Secret Manual for Tracking and Controlling Protesters Mobile Phones | Sam Biddle | Radio Free | https://www.radiofree.org/2022/10/28/irans-secret-manual-for-tracking-and-controlling-protesters-mobile-phones/ | 2022-11-08T13:43:22+00:00. According to the Iran International report, Hossein Salami, a hardliner, asserted that Saudi Arabia has been attempting to incite the . It was a chilling demonstration of the broad technical powers that Iranian authorities had quietly engineered. Iran's Secret Manual for Tracking and Controlling Protesters' Mobile Phones. By Associated Press. Demonstrators have reported visits from government agents to their residences when the agents were armed with detailed knowledge of their whereabouts and activities, such as when they were recording video on their phones. Iranian mobile and internet users reported rolling network blackouts, mobile app restrictions, and . Average internet users are forced to connect through nodes controlled by these companies, and their centralization of authority with the government makes users vulnerable to insidious types of surveillance and control.. EXPERIENCE: Four years at The Asian Pacific Post, a weekly Canadian newspaper founded in 1993 in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Iranian government has long viewed internet freedom as a national security issue and has taken steps to securitize Iranians online access. Rashidi said the widespread use of VPNs in Iran represents another vulnerability the SIAM system could exploit. r/NewIran RIP Sheeren Alizada..the 35-year-old Isfahani woman in yesterday mobile video shot & killed by Basiji agents while filming as a passenger in Mazandaran, next to her 7-year-old son & her family in a private car. While current 5G and 4G cellular connections have more robust built-in encryption systems to thwart eavesdropping, the 2G cellular standard, first introduced in 1991, generally does not encrypt data or uses outdated encryption methods that are easy to crack. According to the emails, the CRA and Ariantel discussed SIAM as recently as August. If you want to know how the Iranian regime controls mobile phones to quell protests, check out this . Photo: Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images. In this respect, this is not a surveillance system but rather a repression and control system to limit the capability of users to dissent or protest., SIAM gives the governments Communications Regulatory Authority Irans telecommunications regulator turnkey access to the activities and capabilities of the countrys mobile users. While removing large segments of the population from the internet remains a popular blunt instrument of Iranian official censorship, the government also has considerably more precise and sophisticated technologies at its disposal. on about your day, ask yourself: How likely is it that the story you just read would have been produced by a different news outlet if The Intercept hadnt done it? Who would hold party elites accountable to the values they proclaim to have? VPNs including some banned by the government have become tremendously popular in Iran as a means of evading domestic web censorship. While not directly mentioned in the manuals, downgrading users to a 2G connection could also expose perilously sensitive two-factor authentication codes delivered to users through SMS. Photo: Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images. In Iran, where the autocratic reach of central government leadership touches nearly every aspect of the state without even superficial democratic oversight, the powers afforded by this integration are far greater and far more draconian in consequence. In Iran, where the autocratic reach of central government leadership touches nearly every aspect of the state without even superficial democratic oversight, the powers afforded by this integration are far greater and far more draconian in consequence. SIAMs tracking of unique device identifiers means that swapping SIM cards, a common privacy-preserving tactic, may be ineffective in Iran since IMEI numbers persist even with a new SIM, explained a network security researcher who reviewed the manuals and spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing their safety. ), The SIAM documents are drawn from a trove of internal materials from the Iranian cellular carrier Ariantel, including years of email correspondence and a variety of documents shared between Ariantel employees, outside contractors, and Iranian government personnel. Those functions, especially the latter one, not only prevents phones from accessing the internet, but makes it easier to decrypt messages due to the limitations of a 2G network. A software program that Iranian cell phone companies have to use gives the government direct access to them. In Iran, where the autocratic reach of central government leadership touches nearly every aspect of the state without even superficial democratic oversight, the powers afforded by this integration are far greater and far more draconian in consequence. While newer 5G and 4G cellular connections have more robust built-in encryption systems to prevent eavesdropping, the 2G cellular standard, released in 1991, either does not encrypt data or employs antiquated encryption technologies that are easy to hack. 05 Nov 2022 15:54:55 Slowing connectivity is only one of many telecom tools available to Ariantel and the CRA that could be used to monitor political dissent. It can be viewed as a method to appear as if the network is congested and severely limit a users data services, Miller said. Tens of Thousands in Iran Mourn Mahsa Amini, Whose Death Set Off Protests While the security forces cracked down on demonstrations across the country, state media reported a deadly attack on a. SIAM Manual for Tracking and Controlling Mobile Phones in Iran, 42 pages Many expressed fears that the government can track their activities through their indispensable and ubiquitous smartphones. Protesters chant slogans over the death of a woman who was detained by the morality police, in downtown Tehran, Iran, on Sept. 21, 2022. Credit - AP. Security measures like two-factor identification using text messages still depend on telecommunications companies connected to the state. Controlling user communications is a massive violation of basic and fundamental human rights.. Iran's Revolutionary Guards are the de facto military and economic bedrock of the Islamic regime, also acting as its ideological police tasked with crushing dissent at home and abroad.. Its generals occupy many key civil and ministerial positions, and are often the ones issuing the most brutal threats against political opponents and disgruntled Iranians. Rashidi, an expert on internet security, says that people who took part in recent protests and Iranians who live near protest sites have reported that their mobile devices internet access was cut off, making their phones only work with 2G, especially in the late afternoons and evenings, when many protests happen. Though Iranians have complained of slowed data connections and total internet blackouts at times, the telecom crackdown has consequences beyond losing ones connection. A similar rundown can be conducted for internet usage as well using the GetIPDR command, which prompts SIAM to list the websites and other IP addresses a customer has connected to, the time and date these connections took place, the customers location, and potentially the apps they opened. 05 Nov 2022 16:18:32 Using the LocationCustomerList command allows SIAM operators to see what phone numbers have connected to specified cell towers along with their corresponding IMEI number, a unique string of numbers assigned to every mobile phone in the world. Evidence of Irans cyber crackdown is everywhere, but little is known about its methods. Cuddles. Security measures like two-factor identification using text messages still depend on telecommunications companies connected to the state. Slowing connectivity is only one of many telecom tools available to Ariantel and the CRA that could be used to monitor political dissent. Iran News Update (@IranNewsUpdate1) September 30, 2022 Roundup of Protests on October 21 "Protesters took to the streets on Friday night in several cities, including Tehran, Tabriz, Mahabad, Piranshahr, Isfahan, Kermanshah, Ilam, and others, holding protest rallies and establishing roadblocks to take control of their streets," the MEK wrote. The tools can slow their data connections to a crawl, break the encryption of phone calls, track the movements of individuals or large groups, and produce detailed metadata summaries of who spoke to whom, when, and where. ), The SIAM documents are drawn from a trove of internal materials from the Iranian cellular carrier Ariantel, including years of email correspondence and a variety of documents shared between Ariantel employees, outside contractors, and Iranian government personnel. Available from: https://www.radiofree.org/2022/10/28/irans-secret-manual-for-tracking-and-controlling-protesters-mobile-phones/, " Irans Secret Manual for Tracking and Controlling Protesters Mobile Phones." The lack of clarity about what technological powers are held by the Iranian government one of the most opaque and isolated in the world has engendered its own form of quiet terror for prospective dissidents. The spyware, called SIAM, can track, decrypt messages and block internet access on smartphones and has been used by the country's Communications Regulatory Authority (CRA) to keep tabs on people taking part in protests which have taken place across Iran in recent months. Miller pointed out that the target of a 2G downgrade might experience the attack as little more than spotty cell reception. Internet shutdowns are now a common political instrument in the hands of the Iranian government and other states. The CRAs OSCS division has a tight working relationship with Irans Ministry of Intelligence, according to the Article 19 investigation. Officials Paint Children as Enemies of the State, Claim They're "Reforming" Kids At Least 28 Children Killed Since September 16, Reports Tehran-based Group October 13, 2022 - The arrests and interrogations of school children accused of joining nationwide protests in Iran and their detention in so-called "psychological centers" has raised fears of more child killings in the fourth . The lack of information regarding the Iranian governments technological capabilitiesone of the most opaque and isolated in the worldhas created its own type of quiet anxiety for potential dissidents. Part of Irans data clampdown may be explained through the use of a system called SIAM, a web program for remotely manipulating cellular connections made available to the Iranian Communications Regulatory Authority. Part of Irans data clampdown may be explained through the use of a system called SIAM, a web program for remotely manipulating cellular connections made available to the Iranian Communications Regulatory Authority. Irans stranglehold over the countrys internet connectivity has proven to be an effective instrument for quelling discontent. Internet shutdowns have by now become a familiar tool of political control in the hands of the Iranian government and other states. While most countries allow law enforcement and security agencies to legally obtain, intercept, and analyze cellular communications, the surveillance and control powers afforded by SIAM are notable in their scale and degree, said Miller: The requests by CRA go well beyond traditional lawful intercept requirements, at least in non-repressive countries., SIAM allows its operators to learn a great deal not just about where a customer has been, but also what theyve been up to, a bounty of personal data that, Miller said, can enable CRA to create a social network/profile of the user based on his/her communication with other people.. Iran's Secret Manual for Tracking and Controlling Protesters' Mobile Phones The documents provide an inside look at an Iranian government program that lets authorities monitor and manipulate people's phones. Such a detailed record of internet usage could also reveal users running virtual private networks, which are used to cover a persons internet trail by routing their traffic through an encrypted connection to an outside server. CRA has defined rules and regulations to provide direct access to mobile operators system, and SIAM is a means to this end, he said. Experts on mobile security and Iranian government censorship say the functionality revealed by the SIAM program poses a clear threat to protesters demonstrating against the government over the past month. While not directly mentioned in the manuals, downgrading users to a 2G connection could also expose perilously sensitive two-factor authentication codes delivered to users through SMS. The Biden administration is now focused on these two issues, Malley said. The government can easily identify IP addresses in use by a particular VPN provider, pass the addresses to this location function, and then see where the people are who are using this VPN, said Rashidi. The second document, produced during a proposed deal with a Spanish telecom contractor, is an English-language manual that documents many of the same SIAM capabilities. The inflation narrative is fabricated, as is the response . The existence of SIAM and details of how the system works, reported here for the first time, are laid out in a series of internal documents from an Iranian cellular carrier that were obtained by The Intercept. The details of the program reported here are drawn largely from two documents contained in the archive. While the police claim Amini died from a heart attack, her family and protesters insist she was beaten to death by the police. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Rashidi, the internet security expert, said participants in the recent demonstrations, as well as Iranians living near scenes of protest, have reported internet shutdowns targeting their mobile devices that have downgraded phones to 2G access, particularly during the late afternoons and evenings when many demonstrations occur. Crows Perform Yet Another Skill Once Thought Distinctively Human Scientific Americans. Iran's Secret Manual for Controlling Protesters' Mobile Phones Iran's Secret Manual for Tracking and Controlling Protesters' Mobile Phones The documents provide an inside look at an. 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It was a chilling demonstration of the broad technical powers that Iranian authorities had quietly engineered. Many media stories mention Iranian protesters "having trouble accessing apps" on their phones. In this way, it is not a surveillance system, but rather a system of repression and control meant to make it harder for users to protest or speak out against the government., SIAM provides the governments Communications Regulatory Authority (Irans telecoms regulator) with complete visibility of the countrys mobile users activities and capacities.
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