Iran's Cyber Police Seek to Identify Operators of 51,000 'Obscene' Instagram Pages

The head of Iran's Cyber Police announced that the force has reviewed 51,000 pages deemed 'obscene and vulgar' on Instagram and is working to identify their operators. According to ISNA news agency, Kamal Hadianfar stated on Sunday, April 9, during a press conference that since last year, due to changes in SSL (Secure Socket Layer) on Instagram, the 'smart' filtering of this network has become ineffective 'except in rare cases' related to 'national security.' He also mentioned that the force has blocked 23,000 'obscene' channels and groups on Telegram without providing further details. The Iranian Ministry of Communications began implementing 'smart' filtering of Instagram in 2014. This type of filtering does not completely restrict access to websites but instead limits access to parts of the content identified by the software. Meanwhile, Iranian media previously reported that the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has technically prepared conditions so that 'in special cases where it is necessary to block the SSL protocol, authorized sites using this protocol will remain accessible while filtered sites using SSL will remain blocked.' However, the Iran Human Rights Campaign reported in 2013 that if 'authorized' websites in Iran do not use SSL, information such as usernames and passwords can easily be accessed by hackers. Over the past years, officials from the judiciary and the Revolutionary Guards have reported the arrest of hundreds due to activities in the 'modeling' sector on Instagram, with prison sentences issued for some detainees. The head of Cyber Police in Iran stated that since last year, due to changes in SSL on Instagram, the 'smart' filtering of this network has become ineffective 'except in rare cases' related to 'national security.' Instagram and Telegram were temporarily filtered following the protests in December and were later unblocked. However, in recent weeks, multiple conflicting reports have emerged regarding the potential filtering of the Telegram messaging app. The head of Cyber Police also stated that over 70,000 'cyber criminals' were arrested last year, of which 77% were men and 23% were women. He added that 'in 2017, more than 39,000 cyber crimes were discovered, and the nearly tenfold increase in crimes has added to our concerns.' According to Hadianfar, the monetary value of cyber crime cases in 2017 compared to 2016 increased to over 100 billion tomans. He did not provide further details about the detainees and their actions. What Iranian officials refer to as 'cyber crimes' encompasses a wide range of topics, and they classify not only virtual fraud but also certain writings in cyberspace as 'cyber crimes.' The judiciary and police officials in Iran also do not provide statistics regarding these 'cyber crimes' in detail. Hadianfar also reported that between six to seven million cyber attacks occur daily in Iran, with 296 'serious' cyber attacks occurring last year. He stated that 50% of these attacks originated from the USA and China, 30% from 'European countries such as Germany and the Netherlands,' and the rest from 'Asian countries.' He also mentioned that last year, among 32 banks in Iran, 11 banks with the highest financial turnover were attacked. Several Iranian websites were attacked on April 6, causing them to go offline. According to statistics released by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, 35,000 switch routers in Iran were attacked, with 'the highest vulnerabilities occurring in Respina, Iziran, and Shatel companies.' Since 2012, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been implicated in the hacking of several American banks, hacking a small dam near New York, and attempting to attack the accounts of officials in Barack Obama's administration. Meanwhile, in April of this year, ten Iranian individuals and entities were sanctioned by the United States for hacking hundreds of American and international universities. On Sunday, the Tehran prosecutor announced that the agency has requested Interpol to arrest the operator of the 'Restart' campaign and hand them over to the Islamic Republic. Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi also stated that indictments have been issued for 28 members of this group, and prison sentences have been issued for 18 of them. He mentioned that the detainees are accused of setting fire to mosques, gas stations, and bank ATMs, as well as graffiti. In recent months, officials from some provinces in Iran, including Khorasan Razavi, have reported the arrest of some members of this group and the issuance of prison sentences for them. Mohammad Hosseini, a former presenter of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting and comedian who has lived abroad for several years, formed a campaign called 'Restart,' calling for attacks on centers such as banks, mosques, and Basij bases. He has declared that the aim of these actions is to seek regime change in the Islamic Republic.