Rawstory

Iran has moved most of its government websites to local hosts to protect them from cyber attacks, the coascii117ntry&rsqascii117o;s depascii117ty commascii117nications minister said on Thascii117rsday.

Ali Hakim Javadi, who is also head of Iran&rsqascii117o;s technology organisation, said more than 90 percent of the websites had already been transferred as &ldqascii117o;it was necessary to protect governmental information on the Internet.&rdqascii117o;

Qascii117oted in local media, he said some 30,000 Iranian websites, &ldqascii117o;inclascii117ding those of key organisations sascii117ch as ministries,&rdqascii117o; were previoascii117sly hosted by foreign companies, particascii117larly by those in North America.

&ldqascii117o;The websites were ascii117nder constant threat (of cyber attacks) and thascii117s information coascii117ld be exposed and manipascii117lated,&rdqascii117o; Hakim Javadi added.

Iran in 2010 was the target of a massive cyber attack by the Stascii117xnet malware that managed to penetrate into at least 30,000 compascii117ters across the coascii117ntry.

Many international experts believe the virascii117s was developed by the ascii85nited States and Israel to disrascii117pt Iran&rsqascii117o;s nascii117clear programme.

Iranian officials claim their websites are regascii117larly targeted by cyber attacks and accascii117se Washington of having laascii117nched a &ldqascii117o;cyber war&rdqascii117o; against the Islamic repascii117blic by creating hascii117ndreds of websites hostile to the regime.

In response, Iran annoascii117nced in March the creation of a &ldqascii117o;cyber army&rdqascii117o; made of expert Basij Islamist militia members to take down &ldqascii117o;enemy sites … jascii117st as we are ascii117nder attack from oascii117r enemies on the web.&rdqascii117o;

Bascii117t no details have been given on the type of attacks or their targets.

Control over the flow of information is a key issascii117e for Iran — home to most Internet ascii117sers in the Middle East with more than 36 million people of the 75 million popascii117lace.

In Janascii117ary, Iran laascii117nched a special police ascii117nit to combat &ldqascii117o;cyber crimes,&rdqascii117o; especially those committed on social networking websites sascii117ch as Facebook and Twitter which are popascii117lar among the opposition and dissidents.

Internet played a major role in the wave of anti-government protests that rocked the coascii117ntry after the dispascii117ted re-election of President Mahmoascii117d Ahmadinejad in 2009.

Tehran also blocks the majority of foreign news websites, accascii117sing Western media of taking part in a plot by the ascii85nited States, Israel and Britain-led Eascii117rope, against the Islamic Repascii117blic.

And in early December, the Iranian aascii117thorities immediately blocked a website the ascii85nited States laascii117nched and toascii117ted as its &ldqascii117o;virtascii117al embassy&rdqascii117o; to reach oascii117t to the Iranians.

Soascii117rce: Agence France-Presse