Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
ONI Blog: A Censorship-Free Alternative to the Global Internet?
As interest in finding alternatives to the global internet and reliance on Internet Service Providers (ISPs) has increased, many parties, ranging from online activists to municipal governments and Silicon Valley start-ups, have experimented with decentralized mesh networks, or meshnets—a...
- Posted on 08/Aug/2012; tagged in Iran, United States of America, United States/Canada, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Human rights, Circumvention
ONI Blog: Superbug 'Mahdi' Plagues Middle East Computers Using Social Engineering
Computer security firms Seculert and Kaspersky Lab recently joined forces to uncover the latest cyberwarfare superbug, Mahdi, according to InformationWeek. Named after the prophesied redeemer of Islam, this Trojan Horse “[roots] through computers to steal documents and record...
- Posted on 31/Jul/2012; tagged in Canada, Iran, Israel, United States/Canada, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Cybercrime and security
ONI Blog: Threats to the Open Net: July 20, 2012
A controversial Russian piece of legislation that would give the government broad powers over the Internet was passed by the upper house of parliament. Opponents of this law fear that it could lead to an increase in online censorship. ...
- Posted on 20/Jul/2012; tagged in China, Iran, Ethiopia, Russia, Asia, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Europe, Legislation, Arrests and legal action, Human rights, Cybercrime and security, Threats to the Open Net, IP blocking
ONI Blog: Threats to the Open Net: July 13, 2012
The Russian Duma, the lower house of Parliament, unanimously passed a controversial Internet bill after four amendments were inserted. While these amendments were inserted to substantially narrow the criteria under which the government could shut down a site deemed...
- Posted on 13/Jul/2012; tagged in Canada, Sudan, Russia, United States/Canada, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Europe, Legislation, Arrests and legal action, Defamation, Human rights, Surveillance, Privacy, Threats to the Open Net, Political filtering, Conflict and security filtering
ONI Blog: Sudan continues crackdown of online news during protests
Since we blogged about the rumored Internet blackout in Sudan a couple of weeks ago, the Sudanese government continues to crack down on online news sites that report on the ongoing clashes between riot police and University of Khartoum students...
- Posted on 13/Jul/2012; tagged in Sudan, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Arrests and legal action, Intermediary Censorship, Political filtering, IP blocking
ONI Blog: Routing Gone Wild: Documenting upstream filtering in Oman via India
Crossposted from the Citizen Lab blog.
Key Findings
Data collected from Oman shows that web filtering applied by India-based ISPs is restricting access to content for customers of an ISP in Oman. While unusual, content filtering undertaken in one political jurisdiction can have...
ONI Blog: Threats to the Open Net: June 29, 2012
In response to protests over recent austerity measures that began last week, the Sudanese government has attempted to choke the press by arresting journalists and censoring news sources. Even as online media is being used to circumvent censorship measures, activists who...
- Posted on 29/Jun/2012; tagged in Sudan, New Zealand, Australia, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Australia/New Zealand, Arrests and legal action, Copyright, Privacy, Threats to the Open Net, Intermediary Censorship, Internet tools filtering
ONI Blog: Internet blackout in Sudan?
In response to recent protests, the government of Sudan has instituted tighter state control over both foreign and domestic news sources, particularly online sources. However, rumors of an impending Internet shutdown appear to be unsubstantiated for now.
Students at the University...
- Posted on 27/Jun/2012; tagged in Sudan, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Arrests and legal action, Take-down, Human rights, Political filtering, Conflict and security filtering
ONI Blog: Multiple cyberattacks on Syrian activists linked to same party
In the ongoing Syrian uprising, regime supporters have targeted opposition activists with increasingly sophisticated malware for remote surveillance and data exfiltration. Since February 2012, when CNN first reported on the cyberespionage campaign being waged against the opposition, surveillance software has been...
- Posted on 26/Jun/2012; tagged in Syria, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Surveillance, Cybercrime and security
ONI Blog: Threats to the Open Net: June 22, 2012
On Monday, Google released its bi-annual transparency report, documenting a drastic increase of takedown notices from around the globe. Highlights include a 49% increase in content censorship in India and a huge spike in requests from democratic regimes.
The International...
- Posted on 22/Jun/2012; tagged in India, Iran, United States of America, Israel, Russia, Denmark, United States/Canada, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Europe, Legislation, Copyright, Cybercrime and security, Threats to the Open Net, Political filtering, Conflict and security filtering
