Iranians’ most basic rights are being violated. Internet access and privacy have become integral to the fundamental human rights of freedom of speech, expression and association, the right to access information, and the right to privacy. Yet with the development of the NIN, which has ...

Under Rouhani, internet filtering has not only continued, it has been strengthened. National search engines now allow systematized filtering and re-direction to state-approved (and often falsified) content. The blocking of major social media platforms, especially during sensitive times such as elections or during unrest, has ...

Guards at the Gate: The Expanding State Control Over the Internet in Iran by the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI), examines the key policy and technological developments regarding the internet in Iran over the ...

Despite the more marginalized role of the president and his ministries, the implementation of internet policies, if not the policy making itself, remains in the hands of the Ministry of Communications, which is under the authority of Rouhani. Hence on several occasions, he has been ...

The Rouhani administration’s record on blocking sites has also not supported his stated support for internet freedom. To be sure, his administration has on several occasions resisted the blocking of social networks. For example, as previously mentioned, in 2014 Rouhani issued an order to ban ...

For as long as the internet has had a presence in Iran, the state has filtered websites and the content on it. However, internet filtering has undergone a transformation during Rouhani’s first term (2003-2017). With the launch of the NIN’s National Search Engine, the Iranian government’s ...

Cyberattacks take place routinely in Iran and are on the rise. Most of the state-sponsored hacking reports CHRI has been receiving have increasingly involved the interception of text messages. Critically, the hackers are using governmental technology infrastructure, namely, the IRGC-owned and controlled Telecommunications Company. As such, ...

Another method used to intercept the communications of Iranian users is through the distribution of pirated versions or localized versions of popular applications that are widely used in Iran. For example, the messaging application Telegram, which remains unblocked in Iran and has 40 million registered users ...

An example of unauthorized access to the ...

Malware is a computer program that runs spyware with the aim of collecting information or eavesdropping on the victim after the spyware is installed on a computer or mobile phone. Malware usually allows the attacker to commandeer the victim’s computer without his or her knowledge. ...

An example of penetrating the Telegram account of a reporter by stealing the ...

Distributed denial of service attacks (or DDoS) aim to make a website unavailable, and are typically used when the attacker is trying to prevent dissemination of information released on a website. While DDoS attacks are not one of the ...

CHRI’s research indicates that during Rouhani’s first term (2013-2017), cyberattacks on the social networks accounts of civil and political activists, journalists, academics and influential cultural figures have dramatically increased. CHRI works directly with individuals under cyberattack to protect their accounts, and as a result, has perspective ...

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One of the proposed elements of the infrastructure of the NIN is the National Operating System (NOS). Iran’s national SSL certificates are built into the NOS and the National Browser. Yet six years after Iran’s Communications Ministry published their “National Operation System Report” detailing the ...

National data centers comprise an important part of the infrastructure of the NIN. These centers are responsible for data storage, maintenance and processing, and maintaining the space for hosting websites in the country, online email communications, domestic messaging services and all communications between government and ...

During the Ahmadinejad government (2005-2013), three national email services, Chapar, Iran Post Company, and Iran Dot IR were launched in Iran. While all three of these email services are still operational, during Rouhani’s administration (2013-present), Iran Dot IR has become the main national email service and ...

Developing the NIN as an alternative to the global internet has necessitated the development of many auxiliary tools, services and other aspects of technological infrastructure. Over the course of the last 10 years, the Iranian government has made progress, even if uneven, toward this aim. ...

Creating ID’s for all Iranian users, hosting Iranian websites in the country, and using Iran’s national SSL certificates, taken together will enable state agencies to access Iranians’ online communications. As such, they will leave Iranians defenseless against Iran’s intelligence ...

This image shows validity of the national certificate on the website ...

A second central security concern is the intention to transfer all servers and the hosting of Iranian websites to Iran—a move explicitly stated as one of the main objectives of the NIN. Jahangard told Jahan Eghtesad Newspaper that the reason for the transfer is to reduce ...

USER AUTHENTICATION PROCESS: The NIN was designed to require users to authenticate ...

Protecting the privacy of their online communications is one of the main concerns of Iranian users. For over a decade, human rights defenders, activists, ethnic and religious minority rights leaders, students and journalists have been routinely targeted for hacking attacks by Iran’s security and intelligence organizations, ...

Iranian authorities and designers of the NIN have cited improved security as one of the most important benefits of this network, and that is prominently used to justify its development to Iranian users. According to their statements, the NIN will protect government organizations and agencies, ...