Where did Iran get its Net censoring technology?

Jake Widman
Wednesday, 24 June 2009 01:46

Business IT - Security

Nokia Siemens did provide some communications monitoring capability as part of a contract with the Iranian government to set up a mobile phone network.

The WSJ story quoted Nokia Siemens spokesperson Ben Roome as acknowledging that "if you sell networks, you also, intrinsically, sell the capability to intercept any communication that runs over them."

The newspaper did add that "it couldn't be determined whether the equipment from Nokia Siemens Networks is used specifically for deep packet inspection." But with the headline "Iran's Web Spying Aided By Western Technology" and a lead referring to "European telecommunications companies," the implication was clear.

The report sparked an immediate reaction from the U.S.-based Computer and Communications Industry Association.

"Reports that Iran is using this technology to detect political dissenters online are disturbing," said association president Ed Black.

"Iran is yet another example of why the use of certain technologies such as deep packet inspection (DPI) needs to be restricted."

Nokia Siemens Networks, however, denied that the technology it sold to Iran could be used for DPI or any other kind of Internet censorship.

For more on Nokia Siemens' response, see Page 3.