Report: Web monitoring devices made by U.S. firm Blue Coat detected in Iran, Sudan

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/report-web-monitoring-devices-made-by-us-firm-blue-coat-detected-in-iran-sudan/2013/07/08/09877ad6-e7cf-11e2-a301-ea5a8116d211_story.html

By Ellen Nakashima
The Washington Post
July 8, 2013

American-made devices used for Internet monitoring have been detected on 
government and commercial computer networks in Iran and Sudan, in apparent 
violation of U.S. sanctions that ban the sale of goods, services or 
technology to the autocratic states, according to new research.

Several of the devices, manufactured by California-based Blue Coat 
Systems, were also discovered in Syria. Although Blue Coat tools have been 
identified in Syria in the past, the new research indicates that the 
government of President Bashar al-Assad has more of the monitoring devices 
than previously known.

Experts say that in Syria, Blue Coat’s tools have been used to censor Web 
sites and monitor the communications of dissidents, activists and 
journalists. In Iran and Sudan, it remains unclear exactly how the 
technologies are being used, but experts say the tools could empower 
repressive governments to spy on opponents.

“These devices are turning up in places they’re not supposed to be,” said 
Morgan Marquis-Boire, a project leader at the University of Toronto’s 
Citizen Lab, which detailed the findings in a new report provided to The 
Washington Post. “The human rights implications of finding these 
surveillance technologies in these countries are extremely worrying. It’s 
a systemic problem.”

[...]

--
Visit the new and improved InfoSec News website
http://www.infosecnews.org/