Added: Austin Heap has provided a great service helping create TOR sites to allow Iranians internet access and others including he, have assisted in taking down the sites which have been used to identify protestors, more below from FinnDunne:
A high-stakes, cyberwar is
still raging to prevent webpages full of photos from being used to
identify, imprison and likely abuse or torture Iranian street
protesters. One website, Gerdab.ir
has in the last 24 hours posted 70 new photos of the protesters, with
identifiable faces ringed by red circles. Currently it is the main
target in the cyberwar.
The battle has
been ongoing since these photos first appeared on a number of websites,
with 'hack-tivists' scoring major successes and bringing down key sites
in the last two weeks. But it's an online war which has ebbed and
flowed, as defensive measures were deployed by the target websites.
At least one website, khodkar.ir
was suspended by its internet domain hosting service. After an approach
by an activist, Jottie Tolatzis on behalf of LeaseWeb confirmed that
the company would take the website offline.
Some
of those participating in the cyberwar range are amateurs who simply
repeatedly load the target pages to slow them down on the internet.
Others are experienced hackers deploying sophisticated
denial-of-service tactics and software to take entire websites offline.
One of the most prominent internet locations where activists coordinate their cyberwar campaign is Anonymous Iran, where a list of the webpages which contain protester photos has been posted. The 'Help Iran Online' section of the site has many discussion threads tracking the progress of attempts to block the target websites.
The
outcome of the cyberwar has serious implications for the protesters
seen in the photos. If they are identified and incarcerated their fate
is dire. Amnesty International has repeatedly expressed concern that detainees face torture or other ill-treatment in Iran. Credible accounts say that rape of prisoners is taking place.
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